And then there was One
by the18thclick
Summary: An exchange student program sends Hermione packing and Ron in love-sick angst. Draco undergoes a heartfelt change & Harry faces the Dark Lord again.
1. Default Chapter

Storyline (c) the18thclick, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Prologue  
  
The Present  
  
Harry could hear his blood pounding through his ears as he glared at his opponent from across the clearing. The thick mist rolling about and the rain thundering down from above did not improve Harry's dark mood, and his foe's echoing laughter only increased his anger. All around him, he could make out the fallen figures of his classmates, and setting his jaw, he took yet another step forward, his wand pointed directly at his target.  
  
"You hurt them." Harry said through gritted teeth. "Ron...Henry...Paige...even Malfoy!"  
  
The boy before Harry grinned maliciously. "Why do you think I did it, Potter? Now you're the only one left..."  
  
"I'll fight you even if it kills me." Harry replied angrily.   
  
His opponent raised his own wand. "That can be arranged." 


	2. The Flyer

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch1  
  
About six months ago  
  
"So, did you see the flyer posted on the notice board this morning?" Hermione Granger asked as she flipped her thick wavy hair over her shoulder, walking with her two friends down the stairway.  
  
"Sorry Hermione, you know better than to ask me that." Ron replied distractedly, fixing a few loose papers that protruded from between the heavy books he was carrying. "I didn't have time to check out the notice board - I had to stay up all night for that Transfiguration essay, remember? I ended up falling asleep in the common room while I was writing it and-"  
  
"Right." Hermione broke in before Ron could finish his explanation, giving him a frustrated look before turning the Harry. "What about you, Harry?"   
  
"What, you mean that yellow sheet of paper about the exchange student program?" The dark-haired adolescent replied as he re-adjusted his glasses upon his nose. "Yeah, I saw it."  
  
Hermione nodded in exhilaration. "Isn't that exciting? A group of students from Chimeral Wizarding School are going to be coming to Hogwarts for a few months...and you know what that means!"   
  
Seeing the blank stares fixed upon her companion's faces, Hermione threw her hands up in disbelief. "It means that a group of Hogwarts students will get the chance to go and study at Chimeral!"  
  
Ron shrugged. "Your point being?"  
  
"How can you be so...so..." Hermione appeared to be on the verge of exploding. "Chimeral is one of the best wizarding schools in the world! Hundreds of powerful witches and wizards graduated from Chimeral; they've got such well educated backgrounds that-"  
  
"Look Hermione." Harry interrupted his friend in mid-sentence and stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Where is this Chimeral anyway? Why haven't any of us heard of it before?"   
  
Hermione looked impatiently at her friend. "Harry, its all in the books. But if you must know, it's located somewhere to the far west - in the United States."  
  
"Don't tell me you're actually going to sign up for this thing, Hermione." Ron spoke up. "I mean, the US...its so far and-"  
  
"Don't go telling me that you aren't the slightest bit interested!" " Hermione snapped. "Besides...I-I...I'd feel a lot better if you two would come with me!"  
  
Harry shook his head. "Look, Hermione. It all sounds fun. But...y'know...I'd much rather prefer showing the Chimeral students around Hogwarts than actually traveling all the way to the States to some place I never heard of. Hogwarts is a great school; I've got everything I need here. If you want to go to some top-notch academy for a while, that's perfectly fine; I'm sure you'll be able to...err, expand your knowledge there..."  
  
"Yeah." Ron said while scribbling furiously upon a sheet of ink-splattered parchment, most likely his un-finished essay for Transfiguration. "Don't tell me you're scared to travel overseas, Hermy."   
  
"W-well, no!" Hermione stamped her foot. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she cleared her throat. "...It's just that, well...I've never gone anywhere without...y'know...you two."   
  
There was a moment's silence between the three friends when Harry finally spoke. "Hermione, that's a really nice thought, but...look, we're in our sixth years already...I figure...I figure that by now..."  
  
"You'd be grown up enough to go somewhere by yourself." Ron broke in. When Hermione simply stood there glaring at him, Ron shrugged and continued scribbling. "Well, its true, isn't it?"   
  
"Fine." Hermione pursed her lips, swallowing hard.   
  
"So when are sign-ups for this thing anyway?" Harry asked, changing the subject quickly. "I didn't catch it on the flyer."   
  
"They're today, actually. Right outside the Great Hall, presumably after breakfast." Hermione replied. "It's a very selective process...they only want students with grade points of average or above, with excellent citizenship...and they're only accepting about ten students."   
  
"Oh." Harry nodded. "Well then...good luck on getting in."   
  
"Thanks." Hermione gave him a quick smile. Ron took the time to look up from his parchment to wish good luck as well, and the three of them entered the Great Hall to take their seats at the Gryffindor table. Breakfast appeared shortly, and Ron and Harry looked on in amusement at Hermione, who was forcing her food down as quickly as she could. In a mere ten minutes she'd cleared her plate, which had originally been stacked high with different varieties of rations. Slamming her now empty glass of pumpkin juice upon the table, Hermione wiped her mouth gingerly, stood, and walked calmly out of the Great Hall.  
  
"She's going to get in for sure." Ron muttered in a bitter tone of voice as he watched her go.  
  
Harry eyed his friend over his glass. "Why d'you say that?"  
  
"Well, its Hermione!" Ron exclaimed loudly, causing a few fellow Gryffindors to look in his direction. "...Smart, nice-looking girl like her...she'll definitely get in." He then dug his fork into the middle of a thick slice of bacon and forced it into his mouth in frustration. "...Probably end up meeting someone at Chimeral and decide to stay at that stupid school forever and ever...and I...we...we'll never see her again."   
  
Harry placed his glass of pumpkin juice down with a slight smile upon his face. "If it bothers you so much, why don't you sign up for the exchange program with her then?"   
  
"W-what? No!" Ron looked up, his face flushing steadily red. "...I-I refuse to do so! I already made my decision before, and I'm sticking with it!" He then forced his head down and buried his face inside one of the books he had in his lap.   
  
"Right." Harry cleared his plate and stood. "You ready to go, then? Hermione's probably waiting for us."  
  
Ron stood wordlessly and brushed himself off. "Yeah."  
  
As they exited the Great Hall, they spotted Hermione standing behind a rather long line of students, all of whom appeared to be waiting for sign-ups to be opened.  
  
"Merlin's beard..." Ron shook his head in disbelief.  
  
"Never thought that so many people would want to visit Chimeral." Harry said. "I guess we were the only ones who didn't know, eh?"   
  
Ron gave a long sigh in reply, and Harry gave his friend a pat on the back.   
  
"Even if I wanted to sign up…what're my chances of getting in? Look at all those people - most of them either are just as talented as Hermione or better than me, at least!" Ron shook his head. "I give up, Harry."   
  
Harry said nothing, knowing better than to intrude upon Ron's private matters. Instead, he cleared his throat and focused his attention upon the large glittering sign that hung above the sign-up table: "Exchange Program with Chimeral Wizarding School - A once in a lifetime opportunity!"  
  
Noting this, Harry furrowed his brow in thought. "They don't have many exchange programs do they? I mean, the sign says, 'A once in a lifetime opportunity'. Exchange programs are pretty rare then, right?"  
  
"Sure." Ron replied glumly.  
  
"C'mon, cheer up!" Harry turned to his friend. "Y'know, I'd sign up anyway…just to see what'd happen…you never know, you could end up being one of the ten…plus you'd get to spend some quality time with Hermio-"  
  
"I'm not in it to spend time with Hermione!" Ron snapped intransigently, his face turning red. "I-I just y'know…get worried about her and everything…her going so far and all that…she'll need some companionship…"  
  
Harry simply shoved his friend towards the direction of the line, standing back to laugh a bit at his friend's clumsiness as he strode awkwardly towards Hermione, a disgruntled expression upon his face concealing the slight smile forming across his physiognomy.  
  
As he waited for his two friends to sign up, Harry was greeted by Neville Longbottom, and the two immediately started up a conversation.   
  
"So Harry, did you happen to finish that essay for Transfiguration?" Neville asked pleasantly. "Four scrolls of parchment! Can you believe it?"  
  
"I got through it all right." Harry replied. "I actually started early this time and didn't wait till the last minute."   
  
Neville nodded. "Same here! I mean, with that exam in Potions coming up, I figured that I might as well finish everything-"  
  
"Exchange student program?" A loud voice broke in superciliously, cutting into Neville's sentence. Harry narrowed his eyes in annoyance: he knew all too well whom that voice belonged to.   
  
"Chimeral, eh?" The voice continued. "Sounds like a load of rubbish to me…"  
  
Neville turned his head slightly. "…Malfoy."   
  
Two hands pushed coarsely through the line of people, and a sixth-year with pale blonde hair stepped arrogantly through to face Harry.   
  
"Oh. It's you, Potter." Draco smirked as he eyed his adversary. "I'm surprised you aren't in line with all these other gits…there may be some hope for you after all."  
  
Harry was sick and tired of having to put up with Draco after all these years, and at the moment he felt it a waste of time to even speak to his enemy. Harry glared back in silent hatred at his opponent, who was sneering in the most disgusting manner.  
  
"What's the matter, Potter?" Draco asked in a singsong voice. "Have you finally learned to show some respect?"  
  
"Expelliamus!" Harry drew his wand from amongst his robes with almost impossible speed. Thrown off guard, Draco went flying through the air and fell hard upon the marble floor. A few people cheered and applauded Harry for what he had done, but most stood in shock.  
  
As Crabbe and Goyle scurried over to help Draco to his feet, the Slytherin forced himself back upon his elbows. "…Never thought I'd see the day when the great Potter practiced bad sportsmanship…" Draco coughed with the effort to speak. "Amazing…"  
  
"Why don't you ever shut that mouth of yours, Malfoy? You're like a repeating record…going on and on and on…" Harry retorted.   
  
Draco was now upon his feet, eyeing his challenger in a most amused manner. Harry opened his mouth to speak again when Neville grabbed onto his shoulder.   
  
"Don't, Harry." Neville shook his head. "You don't need to stoop to his level."  
  
Draco didn't appear fazed whatsoever; instead, he began to laugh. "You're a fool, Potter. A weak, pathetic, stupid little fool. Now you've got Longbottom protecting you…" The Slytherin turned, throwing back the folds of his school robes with a pompous flourish. "I'd almost feel sorry for you…but I don't like you, Potter, and that's an irrevocable fact."   
  
"Turn around and say that to my face!" Harry shouted in anger, struggling in Neville's grasp. Yet Draco did not turn, and instead strode down the hallway, his cocky laughter reverberating in everyone's ears.   
  
"Nice job with handling Malfoy, Harry." Ron looked admiringly at his friend once Draco's voice had faded away. "I'm glad I was here to watch that bit of action."  
  
"Naturally, Malfoy doesn't realize what he's missing out on when he called Chimeral 'a load of rubbish'" Hermione rolled her eyes as she imitated Draco's lingering drawl. "But I'm proud of the way you handled him, Harry…and you too, Neville, for stepping in when you had to."   
  
Neville smiled in reply, while Harry gave a simple, "It wasn't anything." Ron's smile began to fade, and noticing this, Harry attempted to change the subject once more when Ron broke in.  
  
"Look Hermione, I'm sorry I couldn't defend you and your beliefs about Chimeral!" He blurted out loudly. When his friend looked back blankly, Ron reddened and turned away.  
  
Hermione, who usually was very good at deciphering people's thoughts and emotions, seemed clueless when it came to Ron. She simply gave him a disapproving look.   
  
"Look, Ron. It wasn't your fight to begin with. Harry and Neville did what they had to do. I'm actually glad you weren't involved…what if Harry and Neville had gotten hurt? You would have been as well." Saying this, Hermione looked back towards the front of the line and tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for her turn to sign up. Hermione's words seemed to have affected Ron both positively and negatively, and so the color of his face gradually returned to a neutral color as he waited meekly in silence behind his friend.  
  
- -  
  
A few days later, results of the student exchange were posted upon the notice boards in the common rooms of each house, and naturally Hermione was the first to know who had made it and who hadn't. She nearly choked Ron to death when she discovered the results, and while she was doing so, Harry had meandered to the notice board to take a look at the finalized list.  
  
"Lavender Brown…Cho Chang…" Harry skimmed the list quickly for his friend's names. "No…that's not it…no…no…hey…Ron Weasley!" Harry turned from the notice board to congratulate his friend. "Hey Ron! You made it!"   
  
"Wh…what?" Ron murmured weakly, still in Hermione's grasp.  
  
"You made it! You're going to Chimeral!" Harry strode over to his friend's side. "See, I told you!"   
  
"Right, Ron made it." Hermione looked furious. "But I didn't!"   
  
Harry immediately looked to Ron, who paled to a sickly yellow. "No…"   
  
"Are you sure?" Harry dashed back to the list and reread it. There was no Hermione Granger.   
  
"This is absolutely…ridiculous!" Hermione fumed. "I just…I just want to rip something up!"  
  
"I felt just the same when you and Ron were made prefects and I wasn't…" Harry reflected thoughtfully for a moment, standing before the fire while Hermione released her wrath upon Ron. "I'm sure there's a logical reason for all of this."   
  
"…Right…right, I'm sure there is…" Hermione muttered through gritted teeth.   
  
"Y'know, Hermione…if you'll just relax a second…" Ron dashed behind an armchair and remained there. "I'll tell you the truth. I didn't really want to go to Chimeral…its just that…y'know…you sounded like you really wanted us to be there. And since Harry didn't want to go at all, I volunteered to keep you company." He paused for a moment. "So I'd gladly give up my spot to you, if you'd like."   
  
Hermione's physiognomy softened, and she gave Ron a smile. "Oh, Ron, that really means so much to me!" She went to him and enveloped him in a tight hug, while Harry watched in amusement, seeing Ron turned a shade of pink. "But can we just switch spots with someone like that?"   
  
"Professor Flitwick, of all people, is in charge of the exchange." Harry spoke up, remembering what he'd read upon the flier. "I'm sure he'll let you two exchange places."  
  
"Great!" Hermione broke away from Ron and turned to pick up her books. "Well then…let's head off to breakfast, shall we?"   
  
She nearly skipped out of the room while Ron stood frozen to the spot. Harry gave him a grin, clamped his arm around his friend and helped him into the hallway outside.  
  
The day went by quickly, and Hermione was pleased to report to her companions that Professor Flitwick had approved of the change and that she would be going to Chimeral in place of Ron. She then promptly gave Ron another small hug before running off to pack for the six-month trip; she would return the week before the term ended to share her findings with her peers, as well as submit a mandatory essay on her feelings towards Chimeral.  
  
The evening before departure was, strangely enough, an emotional one. Many friends of the students leaving gathered about the stairway with presents. Ron and Harry had managed, after immense effort, to place a spell upon what appeared to be a normal good-bye card. When opened, however, the viewer would be able to see what their best friends were up to at that exact moment. Hermione was absolutely delighted and amazed to receive such a gift, and promised to owl both Ron and Harry often.   
  
When it was finally time to leave, Hermione gave both her friends a swift peck upon the cheek, clutching Crookshanks in one of her arms and wheeling her trunk in the other. When the last of her had disappeared down the hallway, Ron gave a long sigh.  
  
"Guess its just going to be us two, then." He murmured.   
  
"You make that sound as if it's a bad thing." Harry muttered, beginning to feel that his friend was getting a little too overworked over the leave of Hermione.  
  
"It's going to be so weird without her!" Ron moaned. "Stupid Flitwick! Why didn't Hermione make the stupid list in the first place?"  
  
"Hey, at least you made her happy, right?" Harry replied. "Maybe its better this way."  
  
Ron sniffed, rubbing at his nose. "Yeah...maybe it is."   
  
The two of them walked slowly down the hallway, with Ron dragging his feet.  
  
"So...when d'you reckon the Chimeral students are going to show up?" Harry thought out loud.  
  
"Who cares?" Ron grumbled.   
  
"I wonder if they'll be sort-"  
  
"Oh honestly Harry, you think too much!" Ron exclaimed, throwing up his hands in annoyance.   
  
Harry fell into silence, not in the mood in argue. Ron then sheepishly apologized, and in reply, Harry nodded.   
  
They then began to talk about the big Quidditch match that would be coming up in a few weeks, where Gryffindor would be competing against Ravenclaw. Harry felt a sense of relief coming back over him as they talked, and decided that even with the absence of Hermione, everything would continue to go on, normally as usual. 


	3. The Students

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch2  
  
  
  
It wasn't until the next week during dinner that an announcement was made by Dumbledore for silence in the Great Hall. Ron looked knowingly over at Harry, who met his eyes at the same time: The new students were here.   
  
A sudden flash of blinding light erupted from the center of the room, throwing several students off balance and onto the floor. Harry squinted, trying to discern what appeared to be a series of figures in the middle of the light. A second later, the light faded, and all that remained in the middle of the Great Hall was a cluster of students and who appeared to be a Professor from their school, all of which were clothed in red and black.  
  
"Ah, Professor Remora!" Dumbledore stood, extending his hands in greeting. "So good to see you."   
  
"It's always a pleasure to see you, Albus." The young man replied. Harry noticed a few female students across the room beginning to flush madly as they gazed upon the handsome Chimeral Professor as if he were a god.  
  
"Students, I'd like you to welcome Professor remora and our new exchange students from Chimeral Wizarding School!" Dumbledore announced, bringing his hands together to lead the applause. Shortly afterwards, the students and their teacher were led to a separate table to sit at, and food magically appeared, as usual, upon everyone's plates.   
  
Harry noticed that there were five boys and five girls selected from Chimeral, all of whom appeared to be very comfortable and sociable amongst one another. Of the girls, three appeared to be of an Asian background, as was the same with the boys. Harry noted that one of the female students had an extreme likeness to Cho Chang, and an immediate feeling of curiosity sprang up inside of him. Yet he said nothing, and keeping his thoughts to himself, turned back to his plate.   
  
After dinner was over, Harry and Ron were headed out of the Great Hall when a voice called out to them. Turning, the two friends were greeted by three of the Chimeral students, who were, to Harry's discomfort, all eyeing the lightning-bolt scar upon his forehead.   
  
"Hey." One of the students called out again. Harry and Ron exchanged handshakes with the student, smiles on their faces.   
  
"Name's Roger, Roger Tseng." The student who had called out to them said. "I just gotta ask...are you Harry Potter?"   
  
"Er...yeah." Harry replied. He never liked this part of introductions, especially when people took the time to stare at his scar.   
  
"Wow..." The students chorused together in awe. Reddening, Harry took the chance to introduce Ron.   
  
"This is my friend, Ron Weasley."  
  
"Oh, nice to meet you." A different student spoke up. "You can call me Eric...this is a nice school you've got here."  
  
"Thanks." Ron replied. "I can't say the same for Chimeral, since I've never been there, but...yeah."   
  
"D'you play Quidditch, then?" Harry asked.  
  
"What kind of question is that? Of course we do!" Roger exclaimed, his sunburned dark hair shiny in the candlelight. "Couldn't live without it!"   
  
"Roger and I play on our house team." Eric said. "Roger's captain and plays Seeker for us."   
  
"Then you two must be pretty good then." Ron replied.   
  
"Listen, our house is playing against Ravenclaw in a few weeks - you want to come watch?" Harry asked. "It's bound to be an excellent match; Ravenclaw's always been tough competition."   
  
"Sounds fun." Roger nodded. "Sure. I'll get the others to come too."   
  
"Great!" Harry grinned.   
  
It was then that the third student decided to speak.   
  
"You play Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, right?" The girl asked.   
  
"Right." Harry replied, suddenly eye to eye with the girl who resembled Cho.   
  
"Oh. Then you must have played against my sister...Cho Chang." The girl said. "She's told me a lot about you."   
  
"Really?" Harry replied, wondering what Cho could have mentioned about him to her sister. "Does she still talk about me?"   
  
"Oh, no." The girl replied bluntly. "All she does is go on and on about Michael Corner."  
  
"Wait.... if Cho's your sister, how come you two don't go to the same school?" Ron asked suspiciously.  
  
"Oh. Because our parents don't live together, that's why." Cho's sister replied simply. Flipping her long black hair over her shoulder, she changed the subject abruptly. "So, you're both in Gryffindor?"   
  
"Yeah." Harry replied. "You guys have houses too, right?"   
  
"Something like that." Roger said. "Except we have three houses instead of four."   
  
"So what year are you all in?" Ron asked.   
  
"Eric and I are both in our sixth years, but Wei here is only on her fifth..." Reaching over, Roger ruffled the hair of his shorter classmate in a friendly manner, causing her to kick him in the shin in fury.   
  
It was then that Professor Remora called for the Chimeral students to come together. Roger turned to Harry while Eric and Wei left.   
  
"Maybe we'll meet up some other time, then?"   
  
"Yeah, maybe." Harry nodded.   
  
"Nice meeting you." Ron added.  
  
"Alright. See you later!" Roger waved as he walked off to join his fellow students. After he'd left, Ron and Harry were left alone with their own thoughts.   
  
"That Wei looks a lot like Cho." Ron shook his head. "They're almost twins!"   
  
"Right, except that Wei is a lot tougher than her sister." Harry replied, reflecting on his relationship with Cho last year.   
  
"Roger and Eric seem pretty decent." Ron said. "I wonder how the Quidditch teams at Chimeral are...d'you reckon they'll let Chimeral students play in our tournament?"   
  
"I dunno, Ron." Harry replied as they continued walking out of the Great Hall. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"  
  
An owl came with a letter for Ron and Harry the next morning at breakfast, and after opening the envelope eagerly, both boys bent over the sheet of parchment, reading what their friend had to say:  
  
Dearest Ron and Harry,  
  
I am writing to you both from what must be the loveliest dormitory in the world. I've only arrived at Chimeral a few hours ago, but I miss you both very much. When I took a look in the card you gave me, the two of you were getting acquainted to some Chimeral students. I hope you find some new friends among them.   
  
The school itself is very beautiful. It's a large, manor-like structure many stories high, with balconies and turrets, and the grounds are wide and spacious. Like Hogwarts, Chimeral's location is concealed by magic, and to any Muggle, the school would appear to be a simple abandoned cottage in the middle of a field.   
  
The students are divided into three houses - Areamich, Ruatnell, and Kilisar. The Hogwarts students were placed through a sorting and I was placed in Ruatnell - supposedly the equivalent of Ravenclaw. Areamich is for the brave and trustworthy, and Kilisar is pretty much the same as Slytherin. Fortunately, none of the Hogwarts students were sorted into Kilisar...and we were given a friendly welcome by the staff and students.   
  
I hope to hear from you both soon! While Chimeral may be an excellent school, I don't think I'd be able to enjoy it to the fullest without a letter from you two!  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Hermione  
  
P.S. Thanks ever so much, Ron! You're the best!   
  
"Sounds like she's having fun." Ron commented, placing the letter down.   
  
"Yeah." Harry smiled, wondering what Hermione was doing at the moment.   
  
"We'd better be headed off to class, then." Ron sighed, folding the letter up. "D'you want to keep this or shall I?"   
  
"You keep it." Harry replied, knowing it was what his friend wanted. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he stood. "Let's get headed to Transfiguration then."   
  
- -  
  
Professor McGonagall was in the middle of scribbling out what appeared to be a letter at her desk when Harry and Ron entered the classroom, and so the two friends talked amongst themselves while they waited for the lesson to begin.   
  
"Harry! Ron!" A voice called out from behind. Turning, the two friends spotted Roger a few seats away. "Glad to see we have a class together already!"   
  
A pretty Chinese girl with bright streaks in her dark hair entered the room then, and spotting Roger, waved at him in a cheerful manner.   
  
"Melody, come down here! I want you to meet some friends of mine!" Roger beckoned to his classmate. As Melody made her way down the hallway, Harry felt somewhat pleased that Roger already considered Ron and himself as friends. Students from Chimeral appeared to be very friendly, and Harry began to look forward to meeting more of them.   
  
"Hey, nice to meet you!" Melody smiled, clutching her books to her side. At that moment, a Chimeral student called out to her, and she called for him to join her. Harry and Ron were then greeted by a sleepy looking boy with sandy colored hair and amazingly clear blue eyes.   
  
"This is Alex...he constantly falls asleep in class, but don't let that bother you." Melody laughed musically. Alex gave a tired little smile to both Ron and Harry, then ambled back to his seat.  
  
At that moment, the double doors flew open with a bang, and the sound of loud, raucous laughter echoed throughout the classroom. Professor McGonagall looked up from her work, and Harry stood from his seat to get a better look at who was entering. Ron did the same, as did many of the other students around the room.   
  
"And then she just stood there with her mouth open...you should have seen it!" A voice unknown to Harry chortled with high volume. "She was soaked...and the stuff's permanent unless you know the counter curse...so she couldn't get it off no matter how hard she tried...she was practically groveling at my feet for it!"  
  
Harry noticed Roger tighten his grasp on his wand, and across the room, Alex reached for his own wand. Ron gave a slight snort of dislike, while Melody narrowed her eyes.   
  
A tall, sturdy boy strode in, revealing himself as the one who had been speaking. Yet despite his good looks, the boy's dark green eyes glimmered maliciously, and Harry noticed Draco laughing along close alongside the newcomer.   
  
"You're disgusting, Jonathan." Melody spoke up from where she stood. "How could you go around telling everyone what you did to her?"  
  
"I'll do what I want to do, all right?" Jonathan snapped. "You had better watch that mouth of yours too, Melody, before I do the same thing to you as I did to your friend."   
  
"Ooh, I'm scared." Melody retorted. "The only reason you were able to curse her in the first place was because your wand was broken and she was in the middle of a wizards duel with you! You called out a disarming spell and ended up cursing her..." She shook her head. "You're really pathetic, Jon, you know that?"  
  
"Everything coming out of your mouth is a load of garbage, Melody. Everyone knows that." Jonathan replied coolly. Turning, he made his way down the aisle and seated himself, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet upon the tabletop. Draco appeared to be impressed with Jonathan and sat next to him, and the two immediately engaged themselves in a heated conversation.  
  
"So. How did someone like him pass get chosen to be a part of the student exchange?" Ron grumbled.   
  
"I guess they wanted a variety...most of us were surprised too." Melody replied.   
  
"Are there anymore like Jonathan among you?" Ron asked, obviously annoyed by the fact that there were people like Draco at other schools. "Please say no."   
  
"Well...yes." Melody said reluctantly.   
  
"Great. Wonderful." Ron threw his head back to look at the ceiling. "More of them. I don't think I can take more than one Malfoy at once."  
  
"Her name's Lillian Westfront." Melody pronounced the student's name with extreme distaste. "She's pretty I guess...but not nice at all, and very artificial around boys she likes. A lot of us suspect that she wasn't born with good looks...in fact, it's a fact that her mother specializes in transforming ugly wizards and witches into unbelievably beautiful new people...Westfront's Beauty Parlor for the Extremely Ugly, its called."  
  
"Make sure to remind me to give her number to Umbridge." Harry muttered, remembering the horrid Professor from the Ministry of Magic last year. "That toad face of hers needs a real make-over."   
  
"Looks like class is going to start soon..." Melody noticed McGonagall getting up from her spot behind the desk. "See you later." As she scurried off to take her seat, Harry threw a quick glance behind Ron to meet the eyes of Draco, who smirked and whispered something to Jonathan. When they both began laughing, Harry had the urge to reach for his wand again when McGonagall called the class to attention. While Harry usually enjoyed Transfiguration, he found it especially difficult this time around to gather enough concentration to turn his sparrow into a rat.   
  
- -  
  
After meeting up with two more Chimeral students - Eric and the plump and pleasant Tess McKenzie - in Herbology, Harry and Ron headed off to Care of Magical Creatures, the last class of the day. Harry looked forward to the class because it didn't involve much work and was always very interesting. Many of the students were already waiting for class to begin once he and Ron set foot upon the grounds, and Harry figured that he'd meet the rest of the students from Chimeral here.   
  
"That group over there must be from Chimeral." Ron pointed out at a cluster of people. Harry followed his friend's gaze to spot three students: two girls and a boy. One of the girls had a head overflowing with beautiful golden locks, and Harry immediately guessed that this girl was the Lillian Westfront Melody had talked so malevolently about.   
  
"So anyway, I took a look at that Draco Malfoy who's supposed to be the most popular Slytherin amongst the sixth-years..." Lillian said brashly, curling a long strand of hair around a finger. "He gave me a look over too; guess he liked what he saw because he came over to talk to me...not that I'm surprised at all...hey, are you listening to me?" The blonde tapped the dark haired girl in front of her impatiently.   
  
"Y-yeah, sure I'm listening to you..." The dark haired girl replied, obviously distracted by the animal which Hagrid, the instructor for Care of Magical Creatures, was producing from the woods.   
  
"Well, anyway, we talked for a bit, but all he would talk about was boring stuff...mostly about Quidditch, his father, pureblood nonsense...he boasted a lot too, which got a bit too much on my nerves, but y'know, I thought he was pretty cute so I played along for a while...when I finally thought he was going to ask me out he just kind of broke off mid-sentence, gave me this weird look and walked off. What a loser, seriously."   
  
The dark haired girl nodded slightly, her eyes still focused upon the Hagrid. "Right..."   
  
Harry decided to take the moment to introduce himself, and strode forward to say hello. The boy who stood beside the dark haired girl turned at the sound of Harry's footsteps. He had a large, honest smile, which he expressed when he greeted Harry.   
  
"So you're Harry Potter!" The boy stepped forward. "I've always wanted to meet you. Name's Henry, Henry Hsiang...I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you in person!"   
  
The girl beside him looked away from Hagrid's direction in time to say hello. She did not seem to expect to meet Harry, and only thought it was one of her own friends. When she discovered, to her surprise, that Harry wasn't who she thought he was, she blushed horribly and appeared very flustered.  
  
"I-I'm sorry...I thought y-you were someone else..." She turned away in distress.  
  
"You gotta excuse my sister here." Henry shook his head. "She's been expecting her boyfriend to meet up with her all day...you wouldn't happen to know Terry Boot, would you?"  
  
"Sounds familiar..." Harry replied, wrinkling his brow in thought. "Was he supposed to meet her a while ago?"   
  
"Yeah...she's been bugging me about it all day..." Henry exhaled, appearing tired. "If you see him around, tell him Paige is looking for him, all right?"   
  
"Sure." Harry nodded. "Enjoy your classes so far?"   
  
"Most of 'em, yeah." Henry replied. "I liked Charms class the best though...the professor taught us a spell we hadn't learned at Chimeral yet...real fun, it was."   
  
Lillian took a moment from examining her nails to give Harry a look. The moment she laid eyes upon his scar, she broke into a wide-eyed grin, revealing two rows of dazzling pearly whites.   
  
"Oh my word! You're Harry Potter?" She cried ecstatically in a sickeningly sweet manner. "I've read so much about you!"   
  
"Er…thanks." Harry muttered. Lillian wasn't much like Malfoy; she was only very annoying. He was saved from further conversation with her when Hagrid emerged from the forest, clutching something between his heavily gloved hands. The students began to gather closer to get a better look at the animal, but Hagrid quickly shooed them away, saying the creature he held was highly venomous.   
  
"This here is a Runespoor." The half giant announced to his class. "Yeh can find 'em in their native country of Burkina Faso, down in Africa. Now if yeh look closely, yeh can see that the Runespoors' got three heads - the left head is the one that decides what the Runespoor does, the middle is the dreamer, and the right looks over the other two to make sure they're doin' their jobs right. Always watch out fer the right head…its fangs are very venomous." He looked around at the students. "Now, there are some gloves over at that table over there. If yeh'll split up and line up here, I'll show yeh how to handle the Runespoor…then yeh can take 'em and make drawings of 'em."  
  
Harry automatically turned to Ron, while Lillian grasped onto Henry's arm. Paige appeared unsure of what to do when Neville wandered up to her and asked if she needed a partner. Grateful for someone to work with, Paige smiled and walked off with him.   
  
"I've always kept a Runespoor for a pet, so this stuff is easy for me." Draco announced loudly to Pansy Parkinson, whom he had chosen for his partner. She clapped her hands together eagerly and gave him an extremely adoring grin, which looked so disgusting that Harry had to look away, feeling sick to his stomach. Nearby, Lillian was screeching her head off at the thought of handling a snake, while Henry tried his best to quell his partner's horror.   
  
"This thing is amazing!" Ron exclaimed as he stroked the Runespoor's back.  
  
"Watch out for the right head." Harry warned as he sketched out the snake.   
  
"Lookit Neville, Harry. He looks like a natural, handling the thing." Ron commented, looking past their table to Neville and Paige's direction. Neville had gently held down all three heads and appeared to be explaining the parts to Paige.   
  
"Guess he's been studying." Harry replied, looking up from his drawing. It was then that Paige happened to glance in their direction, and gave them a small smile. She was very pretty when she smiled, Harry decided, and was attractive as well. He thought back to what Henry had said about Terry Boot - the name sounded so familiar, but Harry could not remember where he'd heard it.   
  
Seeing that Paige had returned to her work, Harry returned to his own, only to see that Ron was having a bit of trouble with the Runespoor, as two of the heads had begun to attack one.   
  
Class ended shortly afterwards, and Harry and Ron were on their way to the Gryffindor common room when Ron suddenly remembered that there was Quidditch practice. In a wild panic, both boys turned on their heels and frantically dashed down the hallway. When they reached the practice field, panting and clutching their sides from fatigue, most of the team was already up in the air, flying. Their Quidditch captain, Angelina Johnson, turned upon them the minute they approached the sidelines.   
  
"You made the whole team wait for you, do you realize that?" She snapped angrily. "So while we were standing around like a bunch of idiots, Slytherin took the chance to sneak onto the field and start their own practice, even though I signed us up for it!" She looked extremely angry and about to explode. "Now hurry up and get changed, the both of you!" Fuming, she turned and took off into the air.   
  
"Well that was lovely…" Harry grumbled as he followed Ron off the field. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he spotted the scarlet and ebony robes of some Chimeral students, and turning his head, Harry was pleased to see Roger and his friends headed towards the sidelines. Harry was about to stop and say hello when Ron called for him to hurry up. 


	4. The Encounter

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch3  
  
"I'm releasing the Snitch, Harry!" Angelina bellowed from below. "Keep an eye out for it!"   
  
Harry nodded in reply and began to fly in great circles over the Gryffindor portion of the practice field. Below him, he could feel the eyes of the Chimeral students upon him. Roger, Wei, Eric, Melody, Tess, Henry, Paige and Alex had shown up to watch the practice; Jonathan and Lillian were nowhere to be seen.   
  
"Justin! Will you please focus?" Angelina screamed from her broom. "If this were a real match, we'd be losing badly by now!"   
  
Harry zoomed about the field, scanning about for any trace of the shimmering, golden Snitch. Just when he thought he'd spotted it hovering near the handle of Ron's broom, he caught the sudden movement of an object flying towards him, and he immediately pulled his broom back. The heavy black shape of a Bludger zoomed past, followed by brash laughter. Harry looked up to see Jonathan, perched atop a broom, a pleased expression upon his face. Draco flew alongside him, smirking as his robes billowed about in the wind.   
  
"Whoops." Jonathan laughed, throwing his head back with glee. He exchanged a high-five with Draco before flying off again.   
  
"Aren't you going to get that back, Malfoy?" Harry asked, prickling all over.  
  
"No, I'd actually prefer it if you'd go and fetch it for me, Potter." Draco replied, meeting Harry's eyes.   
  
"Well,, I-"  
  
"Harry! Malfoy! What's going on here?" Angelina rode up upon her broom, an angry spark in her eyes as she turned to Draco. "I signed Gryffindor up to practice here today. You all have no right to be here."  
  
"It's really not our fault that two of your teammates were late for practice, Johnson." Draco retorted. "And we did get to the field first. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even bother sharing the field with you Gryffindors. Consider yourself lucky." With a last quick glance back at Harry, Draco turned and flew off. Harry gritted his teeth in anger and was about to chase after him when Angelina clamped her hand upon Harry's shoulder.  
  
"No need for that, Harry." She said wearily. "C'mon, let's get back to practice."  
  
"How come a Chimeral student is allowed to practice?" Harry asked. "If that's the case, why can't we have some new players?"  
  
"Look, Harry, its not that simple." Angelina replied. "Besides, that boy wasn't supposed to be playing with them in the first place…I wouldn't expect less from the Slytherins."  
  
"Right." Harry muttered. He then resumed circling the field, but found it hard to concentrate upon what he was looking for. It wasn't until thirty minutes later that he spotted the Snitch hovering by one of the goalposts, and shifting his broom, Harry dove quickly to grasp the small entity in his hand. Angelina then blew the whistle, and practice ended.   
  
Roger and the others ran to greet Harry when he landed.   
  
"We're really sorry about that incident with Jonathan." Eric said quickly.  
  
"It's all right." Harry replied a bit slowly. Ron came running behind that moment, his face red with anger.  
  
"Harry! I-I can't believe, I j-just can't-"  
  
"It's all right, Ron." Harry said quietly, though his grip tightened about his broomstick.  
  
"Who was that guy with Jonathan anyway?" Alex asked, scratching the back of his head. "The one with the loud voice. I could hear him all the way from here."  
  
"Oh. That was Malfoy." Ron replied grudgingly. "He's just about the most annoying prick in the world; can't keep his mouth shut about how great he is…I'd like to put a good strong hex on him if I knew one…"  
  
"Sounds like Jonathan to me." Tess shook her head, causing waves of orange-red hair to ripple about her shoulders.   
  
"So where's Lillian, then?" Harry asked.   
  
"Off flirting with some seventh years, where else?" Melody rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Plus she doesn't like Quidditch, so naturally she didn't want to come."  
  
"You were excellent out there, Harry." Roger commented. "You've got a great eye and fast reflexes. If you went to Chimeral, I'd make sure you made the team."  
  
"Oh. Well, thanks." Harry replied sheepishly.  
  
"Really enjoyed watching you both play." Paige brought up. "I've always wanted to play Quidditch, but I've never been very good at flying."  
  
"We'd be glad to teach you sometime, then." Ron said. "Or suggest someone to teach you."  
  
Wei sniffed. "Your teams play well, I suppose…" She yawned a bit as she looked at Harry. "But I'm sure that it was just luck when you got to the Snitch before Cho."   
  
There was a moment's uneasy silence between them, when Henry said quickly, "So then…I don't suppose there's been any news on Terry Boot?"  
  
"Terry Boot?" Ron said. "Isn't he that fellow in Ravenclaw? I remember he got sorted with us during our first year. He plays Chaser on the team."  
  
Harry noticed Paige's expression turn from doleful to jovial at the sound of her boyfriend's name.  
  
"Oh my gosh!" Paige reached out to grasp onto Ron's sleeve. "You know Terry? You've got to tell me where he his…how he is…Ron, do you have any idea?"  
  
"Well, erm…no…I don't know him personally…" Ron replied uneasily.  
  
"But you've got to know what he's been up to…" Paige tugged harder at Ron's arm. "Please, he promised me he'd write but I suppose the owl got lost or something-"  
  
"No owl gets lost that many times in a month, Paige, I keep telling you!" Henry exclaimed, prying his sister's fingers off of Ron's robes. Looking to the rest of them, he explained, "Terry stopped writing to her about a month ago, and she hasn't been getting replies to her letters. That's why she signed up to come to Hogwarts - to find Terry."  
  
"Sounds like he's…left her." Harry thought out loud. Immediately, Paige turned on him, her lips beginning to tremble in a Cho-like manner.  
  
"Shut-up!" She hissed in his face. "You don't know that! You don't know Terry! He'd never go off and do something like that to me, without any word! You didn't see all the good times we had together last year…he promised me he'd always be there for me! So stop assuming stupid things like that!" Fuming, she turned and ran off.  
  
Melody sighed loudly. "…I'll go get her." She said, and sprinted off down the field.  
  
"…Anyway," Alex blinked lazily, speaking in a casual tone of voice so that it would appear that nothing had happened, "I could go for some good eating. When's dinner?"   
  
- -  
  
Weeks drifted lazily by with nothing unusual occurring. Harry and Ron received yet another letter from Hermione one day at breakfast:   
  
Dear Ron and Harry,  
  
I've learned very much from just a month's worth of study here! The curriculum and the professors are excellent, and I wish that you both were here to experience with me. While I can't say that Chimeral's courses, whatnot are better than Hogwart's, I have to admit that it's a tight race.   
  
The headmaster of Chimeral just received the most beautiful little Snidget. If you can't remember what that is, it's a round little bird that has a very long beak and jewel-like eyes…you can find a more detailed description in your textbooks. Anyway, the Snidget is extremely rare, and I was amazed to see that the headmaster had one…the Snidget presented to him is even more extraordinary than the typical Snidget - this one has the power of protecting its owner from harm with its song. That must be why the Headmaster constantly keeps the Snidget beside him upon his shoulder.   
  
Of course, I was very impressed that such a small bird had such great powers…and I'm also surprised that there hasn't been an attempt by anyone to steal the bird away for themselves. But I may only be thinking this way because of all the unexpected adventures we've had together…trouble just seems to spring up wherever we go!  
  
I hope that I will from you both soon!  
  
Sincerely,   
  
Hermione  
  
"A Snidget? What in the world is that?" Ron retorted.  
  
"Looks like this." Harry pointed in his textbook to the picture of a tiny, pretty little bird with red eyes and revolving wings. "Looks like a Snitch."   
  
"Hmph." Ron shrugged, returning to his breakfast. "Wonder why Hermione would be so worked up over a silly little bird?"  
  
Harry closed his textbook and drained the rest of his pumpkin juice from his glass. "C'mon then, we'd better get headed off to Transfiguration."   
  
After Ron had cleared his plate to his satisfaction, the friends started off to their first class of the day. They were in the middle of discussing a possible strategy they could use in their impending match against Ravenclaw when Ron was nearly run over by someone darting down the hallway.  
  
"Who in the bloody hell was that?" Harry growled, nearly tripping over his own feet as the figure pushed past several more students ahead of them. It was then that he noticed that the arm of his robes, where the person had brushed past, was coated with dark, dripping ink. Grimacing in disgust, Harry looked towards Ron, whose robes were dirtied across the side as well.  
  
"Why does everything bad have to happen to me?" Ron groaned, picking up his book-bag to discover that his homework had been defaced with ink when the person had run past. As he struggled to recover the papers that hadn't been ruined, Harry kept his eyes upon the person running off down the hallway. He had a sneaking suspicion that the figure running off was Paige, but he wasn't completely sure. The girl ran, slipping and sliding across the marble floor, leaving dark footprints of ink everywhere.   
  
"Is that Paige?" Ron asked, looking up. "Why in the world would she want to drown herself in ink?"  
  
"I don't think that she did it to herself, Ron." Harry replied. He could hear Paige's sobbing and whimpering echoing down the hallway, and wondered what had happened to her.   
  
- -  
  
Up ahead, Harry spotted Draco laughing and chatting with his group of Slytherin friends, and winced, seeing Paige crash right through them. While hearing Draco's disgusted cry the moment he discovered his robes covered with ink was satisfying, Harry's grin faded when he heard Paige's cries.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Draco snapped, circling the Chimeral student as Goyle restrained her. "I paid good money for these robes…and you had to go streaking about the halls covered head to toe in ink! What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
"None of your business!" Paige replied angrily through her tears. Her face was streaked with ink, as were her robes.  
  
"Well I'm making it mine!" Draco sneered as his captor struggled against her restraints. "You look like an absolute fool drenched head to toe in ink, you know that? It'd be nice if that were made permanent…"  
  
"Harry, shouldn't we do something?" Ron asked, looking to his friend. Students in the hallway had cleared out quickly, not wanting to be involved, and only Harry and Ron could do anything to prevent Paige from harm.  
  
"You know…perhaps I should practice that new curse we learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts today…" Draco fingered the tip of his wand maliciously as he faced his victim. "You know what it is, don't you? You're in my class, you tell me what it is."   
  
"You wouldn't dare…" Paige's large eyes widened. "Draco, you can't do this…"  
  
"Don't you go around calling me by my first name like we're friends, you annoying little prick!" He raised his wand.  
  
"Hey Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "You know we're not allowed to cast spells in the hallways."  
  
"But I'm just following your example, Potter." Draco smirked, walking over to Paige and thrusting the tip of his wand beneath her chin.  
  
Behind Harry, Ron cleared his throat softly, and Harry did not move. Paige stared at them intently, and Ron drew a hand stealthily into his robes.   
  
"Look, Malfoy. Leave her alone. If you send her back to Chimeral hexed, then how d'you think that'd make Dumbledore look?"  
  
"I thought I made myself clear last year when Umbridge was still around!" Draco snapped. "I don't give a care about the stupid headmaster, and I could care less about Hogwarts - OW!"  
  
Draco sprang backwards; hopping about in pain, and Harry was pleased to see Paige, who had withdrawn her wand from her pocket, had ignited the leg of Draco's robes on fire. Ron appeared from behind Goyle and promptly disarmed him with a terse, "Stupefy!"  
  
While Draco was busy putting out the fire upon his robes, Harry looked up to see Wei and Eric turn the corner. Upon seeing the fight, both Chimeral students ducked behind the wall, wide-eyed.   
  
"I'm so sick of you Potter…always getting in the way!" Draco turned, his robes smoldering, and pounced upon Harry. The two of them rolled away from the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Ron ushering Paige out of the danger and into a closet nearby. Sparks flew from the corner where Eric and Wei remained, knocking over several of the Slytherin sixth-years. Pansy Parkinson ran off down the hallway screaming, a mass of bats attacking her hair, while Goyle was knocked flat upon his back and lay unconscious. He was distracted from his observations however, when Draco began to strike him hard in the face.   
  
In retaliation, Harry kicked his attacker off of his stomach, and scrambled to his feet. Raising his wand, he cried out the first spell he could think of: "Impedimenta!"  
  
Draco was again thrown through the air, and he fell violently against the wall. Groaning from the impact, Draco felt about for his wand when he felt something press hard against his hand.  
  
"Don't even think about it, Malfoy." Ron stood before him, his face triumphant and his foot upon Draco's hand. "Your cronies aren't here to save you, and you can't find your wand. You've lost!"   
  
Draco stared up at Ron for a moment, and Harry felt the hairs along his neck stand on end.   
  
"I guess I have then." Draco confessed in a voice very unlike his usual intonation.   
  
"Don't listen to him, Ron." Harry warned. "Don't."  
  
"Oh don't worry, Harry. I wouldn't believe a thing he said, even if it were an apology!" Ron turned his head to speak. "Besides, I-"  
  
Goyle leapt out of nowhere and tackled Ron to the floor. While Draco stumbled to his feet, a satisfied smirk upon his face, Harry leaped to action, keeping his wand at the ready. When Draco slithered off into a closet in the wall and shut the door, Harry stood cautiously beside the doorway, panting hard.  
  
"Best come out, Malfoy." He breathed. "You might as well quit, its over."   
  
"Is it really?" Draco asked, his voice muffled in the wall. "You scare me, Potter. You've scared me so much that I've taken to hiding in a closet because of you. Are you happy now?"  
  
"Don't give me that, Malfoy!" Harry retorted. "You don't have to play that card on me; I won't be tricked by you!"  
  
"That's a pity…" Draco gave a loud exhale, and Harry gripped his wand harder.   
  
"Come out, Malfoy." Harry said slowly. "For the last time…"  
  
The door suddenly burst open, and Draco revealed himself, his gray eyes glinting with malice. In one hand he held his wand. His other arm was encircled about Paige's waist, the wand tip thrust against her face.   
  
"So Potter…have you really won this round?" He asked, laughing. Harry glanced quickly in Paige's direction. She had a frightened expression upon her face, her wide eyes looking about the room.  
  
"Were you the one who poured the ink on her?" Harry asked angrily.  
  
"What are you, crazy?" Malfoy replied in an annoyed tone of voice. "If I had been the one that had done it, d'you think I would be bothering with her in the first place? She messed up my school robes and she's going to pay!"  
  
"That sounds like a stupid reason to be bothering someone." Harry retorted. "She got a bit on everyone when she ran through the hallway."  
  
"Shut-up, Potter, no one cares what you think!" Draco shot back.  
  
"Draco…you're going to regret this…" Paige murmured slowly. He felt her tremble beneath his grasp, and a tingle ran slowly up his spine. Uncomfortable, he tightened his hold upon his classmate.  
  
"What are you, deaf?" Draco prodded his wand into his victim's neck. "I told you not to-"  
  
"Potter! Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?"   
  
Harry turned to face Professor McGonagall, tight-lipped and very angry. He tried to think of a possible explanation other than "I fought and used magic in the hallways" but couldn't think of one, and remained silent.  
  
"I was alerted by some Chimeral students that you two were fighting." The teacher shook her head in severe disapproval. "And Malfoy, what do you think you're doing? Let the poor girl go!"  
  
Draco released Paige with a gesture of dislike, though his eyes remained locked upon hers, his stomach churning with uneasiness. She looked weakly away, shaking.  
  
"Anyway…the both of you look like you could use some serious medical attention…and goodness, what happened to Weasley?"  
  
"Goyle." Harry said simply, feeling very tired.   
  
"Well…both of you report to Madam Pomfrey's immediately…I'll try to do something for Ron." McGonagall said snippily. "An hour's detention tomorrow, in my office…and Paige, come with me…you have some explaining to do."  
  
  
  
- -  
  
"I'm going to pummel that Malfoy." Henry growled later that week upon the Quidditch field. The Chimeral students had again come to watch the Gryffindor's practice for their match against Ravenclaw, although this time around there were no problems with the Slytherins.  
  
"We all want to pummel him…" Ron said gloomily. "But somehow he always gets away…"   
  
"No one messes with my sister and gets away with it!" Henry complained angrily. "I'm sick of everyone using her and my being unable to do anything about it!" He wrenched his hands together. "Y'know why she was running down the hall crying? Because she caught that good-for-nothing Boot in the hallway, practically sucking the face off of another girl! Naturally, she confronted them, and Terry told her it was over." Henry cracked his knuckles angrily. "The next thing you know, she's running down the hallway, crying her eyes out."  
  
"So what about the ink, then?" Ron asked.  
  
"Some little ghoul floating about dumped a whole vat of it on her. Called himself Peeves." Melody shook her head. "Of course, that incident didn't help Paige's mood at all."  
  
"She's been holed up in our dormitory all day…she only comes out for classes, and to eat." Tess sounded concerned. "I've got no idea of what to do…"  
  
"The best thing to do is nothing and just let her sit it out." Wei remarked bluntly. "That's what I always did when Cho was crying over some old boyfriend of hers…she always recovered faster when I didn't console her."  
  
"Wonder why…" Ron muttered beneath his breath.  
  
"Anyway," Harry said in a lighter tone of voice as to change the subject, "A friend of Ron and me wrote to us recently about a Snidget your headmaster received lately. Did you hear about it?"  
  
Eric nodded. "My friends wrote to me that the bird was extra special because its song can protect its owner from all harm."  
  
"It's amazing, that's what it is." Roger added. "In the past, Snidgets were used instead of the Snitch in Quidditch…can't believe that now the bird's got the power of granting immortality to its owner."  
  
"You don't suppose that anyone's got their eye on the Snidget, do you?" Ron asked. "I mean…immortality…who wouldn't want that?"  
  
"It's a possibility." Alex shrugged. "It'd actually be nice to have something unusual happen at Chimeral…our school's much too ordinary compared to the stuff students at Hogwarts go through."  
  
"You make that sound as if it were a good thing." Ron shook his head as the group began to walk back towards the main building." What I would give just to go one day without - ouch!"  
  
An owl swooped down from overhead just then and dropped a letter over Ron's head. Tearing the envelope open, Harry recognized Hermione's writing:  
  
Harry, Ron:  
  
I'm sorry if this reaches you at a bad time, but the most interesting event has happened here at Chimeral! The headmaster has issued Snidgets to all the major wizarding schools around - and all the birds can sing the song of immortality! That means that Dumbledore himself will be receiving his own soon…watch for it!  
  
On the other hand, apparently there have been some problems with the distribution of the birds…as I thought, there have been attacks upon the Wizards in charge of sending the Snidgets to their new homes…by Death Eaters. Though there's been no word as to how the distribution is going so far, everything appears to be fine…though don't you think it's a bit funny that Death Eaters would fail you-know-who so easily? It all sounds a bit ridiculous to me.  
  
If you hear anything, let me know. I'll be in touch!  
  
Love, Hermione  
  
"Hermione's gotten in over her head with these Snidgets." Harry commented as he handed the letter to Ron.  
  
"At least it's not like her obsession of freeing house elves." Ron grumbled.  
  
"Wow. So all the headmasters of major wizarding schools are receiving Snidgets." Tess said. "Must be for extra defense in case you-know-who decides to strike again…"  
  
The little group fell into silence at the mention of Lord Voldemort, and they walked in silence all the way to the Great Hall. 


	5. Malfoy

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch4  
  
"Draco, what's wrong?" Pansy asked from across the table. "You look awfully stressed."  
  
"I dunno…" Draco growled, looking about.   
  
"Well then…stop twitching and hold the thing still!" Pansy stamped her foot impatiently.  
  
"Hey, its not that easy, all right? I'd like to see you touch the filthy thing!" Draco snapped. "I can't help it if I feel funny!"  
  
"Why in the world would you feel funny, Draco?" Pansy asked incredulously. "It's not like you to get upset…and you don't look sick…" She slapped her hand over his forehead. "No, you haven't got a fever…"  
  
"Of course I haven't got a fever!" Draco retorted, pulling away. "You wouldn't understand anyway…" He muttered angrily, digging his fingers into the Clabbert's flesh. The half monkey, half frog-like creature protested loudly, pinched Draco hard across the palm, and jumped off the table, screeching. Cursing, Draco ran after the Clabber while grasping his injured hand, the rest of the class laughing at him. When he thought he was within reach of the Clabber's back leg, he pounced, only to land face flat in the muddy grass.   
  
"He deserves it, the nasty little git." Ron remarked loudly as Draco struggled to get to his feet. "And to think that it was a Clabber that got the best of Draco Malfoy."   
  
Draco looked to Ron's direction, where the red-haired boy stood with a so-what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it expression upon his face. Furious, Draco tried to force himself up off the grass, only to slip and fall once more. The class roared in laughter, and the gray-eyed boy looked about for some source of support. Not even Pansy budged from where she stood, to Draco's dismay.  
  
"So much for your robes, Draco." Paige spoke from next to Neville. "Tsk, they're so very dirty…wonder how you'll be getting the stains out…and I don't suppose you had any luck with removing the ink stains I happened to get on you a few days ago, did you?" When Draco couldn't find the words to speak, Paige smiled coolly. "I didn't think so."  
  
"Well I'm happy to see you've recovered so quickly…" Draco snarled. His pride was crushed, and he felt humiliated lying in the mud and unable to stand without making a fool of himself.   
  
"Oh please…" Lillian sniffed when everyone continued to laugh at their fallen classmate. Picking her way daintily through the slippery grass, she offered her hand to Draco, who took it hesitantly. Flashing a beautiful smile at the sixth-year Slytherin, she crooned, "Now…I don't suppose you could offer some sort of reimbursement for what I just did for you?"   
  
Draco stared at her for a moment, then back at Harry, who was clutching his sides, laughing his head off.   
  
"No. I couldn't." He snapped, pulling his hand away and stomping back to his spot beside Pansy. When she tried to offer consolation, he pushed her away and sketched up the best drawing of a Clabber he could out of the top of his head. He then turned his smudged paper in to Hagrid, who eyed it a bit disdainfully before putting it away.  
  
Draco knew he'd failed to do well in class that day, but he didn't care much for Care of Magical Creatures in the first place. What upset him so much was the laughter of his peers when he'd fallen. His bloated ego had been punctured, and it hurt. As he stomped away, he could hear Pansy beside him, uttering apologies and comforting words that sounded so far away. Turning a corner, he entered the restroom, where he winced at his reflection. Cupping water into his hands, he did his best to clean off the grime upon his face. His robes were ruined, and the damp cloth felt disgusting against his skin.  
  
"Did you see Malfoy's face when fell in the mud?" A voice that Draco recognized as Dean Thomas's laughed from inside one of the bathroom stalls. "I only wish I had a camera with me…that kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime!"  
  
"Naw, he's been deserving a good lesson on manners for a long time." Another voice replied from the neighboring stall. "I wouldn't be surprised if he fell down the whole flight of stairs outside and everyone was there to watch."   
  
"You're probably right." Dean chuckled. "And I'll have my camera ready then…"   
  
Draco could feel himself trembling over with anger. Where were his fellow Slytherins when he needed them?   
  
"Hey! You!" He banged upon the door of the first stall. "That's right! I'm sure you recognize my voice, you disgusting nobody! If you know what's good for you, you'll shut-up…and that goes for your little friend as well!"   
  
"Why don't you make us?" The second voice asked, obviously not concerned that Draco had overheard the conversation. "Or are you scared…because your little groupies aren't with you?"   
  
"Y-you shut-up!" Draco stormed over to the next stall and kicked the door in. The student inside stood there coolly, obviously unfazed.   
  
"Well? I don't suppose you're going to challenge me to a Wizard's Duel, are you?" He asked. "Because I could take you any day."   
  
"And who do you think you are?" Draco asked angrily. "No one talks back to me like that!"   
  
"Oh, who I am is none of your concern." The boy stepped forward angrily. "But what you did to my sister is a definite concern of mine."  
  
"What…what are you talking about?" Draco snapped. "I don't remember-"  
  
"Of course you wouldn't remember. You pick on so many people that you can't remember their faces anymore." The boy pulled out his wand. "But here's a little clue: '…perhaps I should practice that new curse we learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts today…you're in my class, you tell me what it is.'"  
  
Draco's eyes widened as the memory of his own words returned to him. "That girl has a brother?" He stood for a second in what appeared to be disbelief, then recovered quickly, his usual smirk appearing back upon his face. "So what if you're her brother? That doesn't mean anything to me."   
  
Henry took another step forward. "Well I'm out to make it mean something."   
  
- -  
  
"Dear Hermione," Ron read his words out loud as he wrote, "I hope you are receiving this letter in good spirits…how does that sound, Harry?"  
  
"You don't have to make it so formal, Ron…" Harry grumbled, shaking his head. Picking up his quill, he picked up where Ron had stopped writing. "Sorry we haven't written in such a long time…but we've all been awfully busy here."  
  
"Snape's out to get all of us and had us go through five different exams in the three months you were gone. And they weren't ordinary exams either…more like the hardest tests in the world…" Ron scratched out with his quill. "But I'd bet you'd get through it all fine; you're so smart and hard-working…"  
  
"Anyway, the big match against Ravenclaw is in a few days; Ron and I've been going to weekly Quidditch practices ever since you left!" Harry wrote. "Angelina's been very harsh to everyone on the team; if Gryffindor wins, then we'll get to have a go against Slytherin…"  
  
"And you know what that means." Ron scribbled. "A chance to beat up Malfoy after all that "Weasley is King" nonsense from last year…I'll show him!"  
  
"Speaking of Malfoy, guess what? One of the Chimeral students, Henry, attacked him in the bathroom and put some sort of hex on him…Ron and I were sitting in the common room when we heard the news…Neville ran in and announced, 'I just found Malfoy in the bathroom by the library…and it looks like he's fainted.'" Harry scrawled.  
  
"And it doesn't end there, either." Ron wrote. "The spell Henry used also caused Malfoy to see things…bad things…"  
  
"We last heard that Malfoy jumped clear out of his bed in the medical ward and ran off, claiming something was after him." Harry laughed as he wrote. "Of course, after some talk with Henry, we learned that the spell would wear off soon…"  
  
"Which disgusts me." Ron wrote. "If I were Henry, I'd make sure that spell were made permanent."  
  
"Anyway, you last wrote to us about the Snidgets…" Harry continued writing. "Dumbledore hasn't mentioned anything about getting one, and he hasn't exactly been walking around with it on his shoulder either. Maybe he hasn't gotten his yet…sorry we can't say more about it."  
  
"I hope you're doing well at Chimeral, Hermione." Ron sighed as he wrote. "I miss you ever so much…and sorry if I didn't really express it when you left."  
  
"It's sometimes weird to walk through the Hogwarts without you around." Harry wrote. "But you're always in our thoughts. Take care."  
  
After signing both their names at the bottom, Ron and Harry placed the letter in an envelope and headed off to the Owlery. It was late evening, and most students had cleared the hallways. As the two friends made their way up to the tower where the owls roosted, someone's harsh whispering around the corner caught Harry's attention.  
  
"…very upset and needs to know everything about those Snidgets now!" The person hissed. "Now hurry up and answer me…there could be someone listening!"  
  
"Look, you know I can't tell you very much." A second person replied. "I only put the Snidget anonymously into the Headmaster's office…and you know how he's a sucker for presents, no matter who gives it to him. After the Imperius Curse finally got to him, the Snidgets were sent out…and the rest you know!"  
  
"But there may be a flaw in the plan, all right?" The first person snapped. "Apparently, some of the birds really do have the song of immortality…and we just sent them to some of the most powerful wizards in the world!"  
  
"Oh jeez…" The second person sounded worried. "The Dark Lord is going to have our necks…"  
  
The Dark Lord! Harry immediately grabbed Ron by the sleeve and both of them ran in the opposite direction, not stopping until they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who yawned and swung open when they gave her the password.   
  
"Merlin's beard…" Ron gasped out. "T-the Dark Lord…"  
  
"Hermione was right to be suspicious about the Snidgets, then." Harry looked up from where he had collapsed on the floor.   
  
"Who were those two people?" Ron asked. "They sounded awfully familiar…"  
  
"Right." Harry agreed.   
  
"D'you think they heard us?" Ron said in a worried tone of voice. "I don't want to wake up one morning and see some creepy Death Eater standing over me…"  
  
"I don't know." Harry replied truthfully. "But I don't think they'd want to raise any suspicion among anyone at Hogwarts. Obviously one of the people we heard talking is staying at Hogwarts, and if one of us were just zapped into nothing then Voldemort's plan would be ruined...the Ministry of Magic would have people combing through the entire school."  
  
"How'd you get all that from just listening to their conversation for about five seconds?" Ron muttered, heading upstairs to bed. "You're starting to turn into Hermione, and that's weird."  
  
- -  
  
The next morning, Harry and Ron decided to talk to Dumbledore about their close encounter from yesterday night. Reaching the statue of the gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office, Harry and Ron named every sweet they could think of until the statue leapt aside to let them through. Upon reaching the door of Dumbledore's office however, the friends were dismayed to see a note posted upon the door:   
  
I have left for a little visit to Chimeral to visit the Headmaster. Please forward all messages, etc. to Professor McGonagall. I shall return at the end of the month.  
  
"Shoot! Why'd he have to pick now, out of all good times, to go off on a trip?" Ron threw his hands up in annoyance.  
  
"Well…I suppose the best thing to do now is to talk to McGonagall." Harry exhaled, running his hands through his hair.  
  
"You're right…" Ron sighed. "And we better rewrite that letter we were going to send to Hermione, too."  
  
As they walked to class, the friends rewrote their letter, adding in the events of yesterday evening. Of course, they wrote it in code, referring to the possible Death Eaters in names such as "Mr. One" and "Mr. Two". They made a quick trip to the Owlery, and after making sure Hedwig had flown off safely with the letter, the two friends walked to Transfiguration, keeping their eyes open for danger.  
  
Class passed by too slowly. After a strangely boring lesson, Ron and Harry approached their instructor, both feeling anxious.  
  
"Professor…" Harry began, "Ron and I have got something very important to tell you."  
  
Ron nodded. "Right. We were going to tell Dumbledore, but he's on an outing…"  
  
Their professor looked up at her pupils. "What is it?" She asked, removing her half-moon spectacles.   
  
"Well…its just that…yesterday night, when Ron and I were going up to the Owlery to have a letter delivered…we happened to overhear a conversation. It's about those Snidgets that the Headmaster of Chimeral's been sending out."  
  
"I don't see a problem. Snidgets are harmless." McGonagall replied.   
  
"Right, except that you-know-who is behind the distribution!" Ron cried out, unable to contain himself. "We heard with our own ears: 'The Dark Lord is going to have our necks'!"  
  
Their instructor froze for a moment where she sat, unsure of what to say. "W-well then…are you boys sure that you heard this?"  
  
"Yes!" Ron and Harry exclaimed at the same time.   
  
"Someone working for Voldemort is here, in Hogwarts!" Harry said. "Professor, you've got to tell Dumbledore…you've got to do something!"   
  
McGonagall pursed her lips, tightening them. "All right. I'll take care of these matters. Thank you for coming forward, the both of you." She walked them to the doorway. "Now, I don't want neither of you two to mention anything about what you heard to anyone. The last thing Hogwarts needs to experience is absolute pandemonium."  
  
In the hallway, Ron and Harry separated to attend their different classes. They didn't meet again until Herbology, but all Professor Sprout had to show to the class was the Mandrake, a plant that the class had, to the professor's dismay, had observed before.   
  
Harry was about to fall over from the dullness of the day as he trudged to Care of Magical Creatures class when Ron, having reached class first, grabbed him urgently by the arm, jolting him awake.  
  
"You won't believe this, Harry…but Hagrid's got a Snidget for class today!"   
  
- -  
  
"What?" Harry exclaimed. He fell into a run, Ron following close behind. When they reached class, Henry immediately greeted them.  
  
"Hagrid's got himself a Snidget to show us today…isn't your friend Hermione interested in Snidgets?"  
  
"Yeah…" Harry replied, distracted by a shimmering object fluttering between Hagrid's hands. Already a large group of students had clustered about their teacher, trying to get a better look.  
  
When class began, everyone kept their eyes focused upon the Snidget, which was twittering about joyfully upon Hagrid's shoulder.   
  
"This, class, is a Snidget." Hagrid said. "Borrowed it from Dumbledore. It's very rare and was once used in Quidditch as the Snitch…nearly hunted to extinction, it was." Hagrid stroked the bird's back softly. "This particular Snidget's special…it's got the power of granting whoever has it immortality with its song."  
  
While the class oohed and aahed, Hagrid said, "Since I've only got one, it'd be best if yeh all lined up…give yeh a chance to pet it…"  
  
"Well I guess we can write to Hermione and tell her that Dumbledore's Snidget is here." Ron grumbled as he stood to get in line.   
  
"The best way to get a Snidget to sing is teh pet it real softly across the chest…easy does it…" Hagrid bent over to allow Lavender to pet the Snidget.   
  
"Ooh, its so cute!" She giggled as she touched the soft feathers.   
  
When it was Harry's turn to pet the Snidget, he reached out to stroke its belly when he was interrupted by a cold, drawling voice. Hagrid looked in the direction of the voice and immediately clenched his fingers together into fists.  
  
"It's Malfoy's father." Ron hissed in an undertone.  
  
"Hello…Professor." The tall, longhaired man spoke from where he stood, his fingers grasping the head of his walking stick. "Just thought I'd stop by…see how the lessons were coming along." He glanced coldly in Harry's direction before looking back to Hagrid. "Apparently, there was a bit of trouble a while ago…my son suffered great humiliation in this class, and I'm wondering why."  
  
While Hagrid was finding words polite enough to say, Harry stood forward. Already, the pieces were falling together. "That incident happened over a month ago. Why are you bringing it up now?" He narrowed his eyes. "And it's surprising that Malfoy would call upon his father for help. I really thought he knew better than that."  
  
"Now, Potter…If I were you, I wouldn't talk back to my elders like that." Draco's father lowered his voice to a deadly whisper as he neared Harry. "And I'd never, ever, question a Malfoy's judgment…"  
  
"Where is Malfoy anyway?" Harry continued to speak loudly. "Y'know, I thought that he'd have recovered by now…but then again, maybe he's much too embarrassed to come back to class…hey Ron, d'you reckon that the poor git's fainted in the bathroom again? Mr. Malfoy, better go check!"  
  
"Enough!" Draco's father roared. Pulling out his wand, he muttered a spell from between his lips. Ducking, Harry rolled to the grass, only to see the spell make contact with a surprised Hagrid, who had been trying to distract himself with the Snidget.   
  
"Hagrid!" Ron cried out, smoke from the spell billowing about everywhere. "Are you all right? Where are you?"   
  
Harry groped about through the gray mist, hoping to grab a hold upon the professor's limb. "Hagrid!"   
  
All around him, he could hear his classmates crying out in alarm, and winced, his hand run over by a confused student. Pulling out his wand, Harry uttered, "Lumos!" A beam of light emerged from the wand tip, enabling Harry to see better. Nearby, he could see that Ron had done the same.   
  
"Hagrid!" Both of them cried out. They were about to step forward when the large, burly figure of their professor emerged from within the smoke. Harry had never felt so relieved to see that his teacher was all right.  
  
"Hagrid! You're all right!" Harry grabbed onto the half-giant's arm and gave it a squeeze.   
  
"Yeah…yeah I am." Hagrid grumbled, looking a bit confused. "What just happened?"   
  
"Malfoy's dad hit you with a spell." Ron said, brushing himself off. "I guess the Snidget helped you live through it."   
  
"Oh…righ…" Hagrid mumbled, the Snidget upon his shoulder twittering away happily.   
  
Harry could see the smoke clearing, and before them stood Lucius Malfoy, his wand held out, but his face in a state of shock.  
  
"I-it…" He stuttered, eyes wide. "T-the Snidget…its true…"  
  
"You were the one in the hallway yesterday." Harry said, and Lucius stared at Harry, his mouth open.  
  
"Harry! Shut-up! You're not supposed to let him know that!" Ron pulled at his friend's sleeve.   
  
"So who was that other fellow with you, then?" Harry continued, ignoring Ron's pleas. "He's the one whose at Hogwarts, isn't he? The one who makes sure that nothing goes wrong when Dumbledore finally gets his Snidget…but that didn't work out, did it? It just happened that Dumbledore left on an outing…"  
  
"Harry!" Ron tugged harder. "Stop!"   
  
Draco's father lowered his wand slowly. "…I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Sure you don't." Harry retorted. "Stop feigning it; you just don't want your little plan ruined, or else Voldemort'll get you! Well guess what? It's already been ruined, because you went ahead and attacked Hagrid in class, and he was with the Snidget! That proves that the birds you sent out, which weren't supposed to be able to sing the song of immortality, can sing the song! It wasn't supposed to be that way, now was it?" 


	6. Posessed

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch5  
  
Ron released his hand from Harry's robes, his mouth agape and staring at his friend. "Harry…how'd you know that?"  
  
At that moment, the Snidget hit an ear-piercing high note, which brought Hagrid out of his daze. Seeing Lucius standing before him, he automatically pulled out his wand, stepping in front of the two boys.  
  
"I don't know why you're here, Malfoy…" Hagrid said. "But I don't want you harming these two boys."  
  
"Hagrid…you're not supposed to use magic!" Ron exclaimed from behind the half-giant.  
  
"Don't worry. You two go alert Professor McGonagall…I'll hold 'im off 'til then."   
  
As the two ran off, Ron looked to his friend. "Explain to me how you figured all that out."  
  
"It all fits together, doesn't it?" Harry gave a satisfied grin. "Didn't you listen to them talk yesterday? Someone gave a Snidget to the Headmaster of Chimeral anonymously. The Snidget somehow caused the Headmaster to fall under the Imperius Curse, and so he began, under the orders of Voldemort, to distribute the Snidgets to major wizarding schools."  
  
"But the plan backfired…" Ron said slowly, beginning to catch on.   
  
"Right. In Hermione's letter, she wrote to us that there were attacks on the wizards in charge of distribution."  
  
"That was supposed to throw people off." Ron murmured. "It was to look like you-know-who wanted the Snidgets, so that when some of the world's most powerful wizards started to act funny, they wouldn't blame it on him, because he supposedly wasn't in charge of distributing the birds…"  
  
Harry nodded. "Right. Didn't you think that it was pretty weird that even Death Eaters couldn't get to the Snidgets? They rarely fail to follow orders. Hermione was right to be suspicious."  
  
Reaching Professor McGonagall's office, the two boys burst inside, startling the teacher. After explaining what had happened, Harry and Ron were sent to the Great Hall for dinner while their professor marched off to clear up the problem.   
  
As Ron and Harry took their seats with their fellow students, Ron turned his head in time to notice that Draco had returned. The Slytherin appeared to have recovered fully from the spell that had been placed upon him, and the familiar cocky smirk had returned to his face.   
  
"Looks like Malfoy's forgotten everything that's happened." Ron shook his head. "Guess Madam Pomfrey used a Memory Charm on him."  
  
"Well, then Malfoy's twice as likely to get himself in the same bind again then, won't he?" Harry replied, digging into his food.  
  
As the two friends ate, Harry's mind kept wandering and he was unable to sit still.   
  
"Hey Ron…what d'you reckon is going to happen now…I mean…now that Malfoy's father has proved that some the Snidgets really are able to sing the song of immortality, won't Death Eaters be all over the place now?"  
  
"Not before you-know-who punishes the ones who failed him." Ron replied morbidly, returning to his dinner.  
  
Behind them at the Slytherin table, Draco was in the middle of exchanging stories with Jonathan, who had wandered over from the Chimeral table to say hello.  
  
"So anyway…I don't believe I've ever laughed so hard in my life…" Jonathan said, grinning at the memory.   
  
"Wish I'd been there!" Draco replied, joining in the laughter.   
  
"Oh, by the way…I haven't seen you for over a month. One of the Chimeral students told me you were in the medical ward, sick with something." Jonathan said. "What happened?"  
  
"Y'know…I can't really remember." Draco laughed. "I guess Pomfrey used a Memory Charm on me or something…don't really know why, but she did."  
  
"Oh. Well at least you're better now." Jonathan remarked, nodding. "You still look a bit on the weak side though…you sure you're all right?"  
  
"Well…" Draco hesitated. "I'm feeling a little strange…but I don't think its got anything to do with the sickness I got, because I felt exactly this way before I got sick."  
  
"Hmph." Jonathan cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows. "How come Pomfrey didn't catch it when she checked you up?"  
  
"I don't know…" Draco growled, shooting a look over at the Chimeral table. "But I think that one of your little classmates did something to me."  
  
"Which one?" Jonathan asked, leaning closer.  
  
"The girl. The one sitting next to the sister of the Ravenclaw seeker. You see her?"  
  
"Yeah. You're talking about Paige, right?" Jonathan chuckled softly. "You must be kidding. She can't do a thing…sure she's smart and everything, but what could she possibly do to you that even Pomfrey couldn't notice?"  
  
"I don't know…" Draco muttered angrily, wringing his hands in frustration. "But I don't want to act too rashly…her brother did something to me the last time I messed with her."  
  
"No worries." Jonathan turned to head back. "I'll take care of it."  
  
- -  
  
"Mount your brooms…" Madam Hooch ordered. "And…go!"  
  
Harry kicked hard off the ground and felt a surge of ecstasy sweep through him as he rose high into the air.   
  
"We're going to win this!" Angelina called out. "I didn't have all those practices for nothing!"  
  
As Harry flew about the field, keeping a sharp eye out for the Snitch, he took in a deep breath of fresh air. The match against Ravenclaw had finally begun, and in place of Cho was none other than Terry Boot, Paige's old boyfriend. Harry had to be impressed by how strongly Terry flew, but the melancholy expression upon Paige's face from down below caused Harry to have second thoughts.   
  
"Let's play fair now, Harry." Terry lowered himself to face Harry midair. "I know you and your friends probably have it out for me ever since that incident with Paige…but this match isn't about that, is it?"  
  
"No. No, its not." Harry replied, and climbed up higher over the field, continuing to search for the Snitch. Below, Roger and the others were cheering loudly for him, which boosted his confidence.  
  
"Harry, watch it!" Angelina cried out, as a Bludger narrowly missed her teammate's leg. "Where in the world did our Beater go?"  
  
"It's all right, Angelina." Harry reassured his team captain before moving on, scanning the field. A glimmering object shimmering from below caught his eye, and he was about to dive for it when he realized it was the Snidget from yesterday's lesson, perched upon Hagrid's shoulder. Seeing that he'd caught Harry's eye, Hagrid waved and smiled.   
  
Harry was about to return the wave when he noticed Draco, seated further above, was peering over at Jonathan in a manner that caught Harry's suspicion. Jonathan seemed to sense Harry's gaze, for he looked up to the sky where he gave the Seeker a slow, vile, smile. Harry saw the Chimeral student reach into his robes and pull out his wand, and automatically, Harry directed his broom into a deep dive downwards, trying to avoid the attack. However, Jonathan's spell hadn't been directed at Harry, and merely was used to distract him. To Harry's shock, a streak of light shot out from Jonathan's wand and enveloped itself about the Snidget, which immediately began twittering madly. Draco himself muttered a spell that sent sparks flying everywhere and caused the stadium to shake madly. The crowd began to scream and cry out in surprise, and people began leaving. Only the players upon the field remained, too focused upon the game to have noticed anything. Harry gritted his teeth in anger, and despite Ron's calls for him to come back, flew directly into Draco, knocking the Slytherin over.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Harry exclaimed, shaking Draco by the collar. "Someone could be hurt because of you!"  
  
Yet Draco seemed to have been caught in a spell, and stared blankly back at Harry, his eyes glazed over and his lips moving inexorably, mumbling in an undertone.  
  
"Stop it!" Harry shook his classmate harder. When Draco would not relent, Harry yanked out his wand and yelled, "Impedimenta!"  
  
With the spell having hit its target at such a close range, the force of it caused Harry to fall over and Draco to be knocked unconcious. When Harry had gotten to his feet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had assembled around him, staring at the unconscious Draco, who lay upon the stadium benches. The shaking had stopped, and Harry knelt down beside his classmate, checking his condition.  
  
"Well…you sure got him, didn't you?" Angelina commented, shaking her head. "Guess its back to the medical ward for Malfoy."  
  
"I wonder how he got the energy to channel that much power through his wand." Dean Thomas commented, prodding Draco's body with his foot.   
  
"I don't really want to know how." Ron replied, shivering a bit.   
  
"Has anyone seen Jonathan?" Harry asked, looking around. "I saw him catch the Snidget with some sort of spell…he might have it right now!"  
  
"I thought I saw him run off with a crowd of people." Dean said.   
  
"Shoot." Harry shook his head. "What should we do?"  
  
"We can split up." Ron suggested. "Maybe we can catch him that way."  
  
"I'll take Malfoy to the medical ward…he seems harmless at the moment." Angelina said, already in the motion of supporting Draco with her shoulder.  
  
"Right." Harry nodded, thankful for his teammate's help. "Let's go, then!"  
  
- -  
  
"Where d'you reckon we start looking?" Ron asked as he followed Harry down a long corridor. "We've got no idea of where to start!"  
  
"Right…but this ought to help us." Harry replied, whipping out a scroll of parchment from his robes.  
  
"Wha…hey, that's the Marauder's Map! How did you get your hands on it so fast?" Ron asked.  
  
"I listened to the homework planner Hermione got me." Harry said, looking down at the map. "Always be prepared."  
  
As the two friends peered down that the Marauder's Map, they noticed the fast moving image of a figure labeled, "Jonathan".  
  
"He's nearing the Owlery…wonder what he's up to there." Harry frowned, furrowing his brow. Turning, he began to climb the staircase.  
  
"Why d'you think Jonathan would want the Snidget, Harry?" Ron asked, scratching his head. "It makes no sense!"  
  
"Either he's up to a practical joke…or he's come under the control of someone." Harry grimaced, the thought causing him to shudder.  
  
"Someone like you-know-who?" Ron asked, running up ahead of Harry.  
  
"Let's hope not." His friend replied as they hurried down another corridor.  
  
As they neared the Owlery, Harry felt his scar give a slight twinge, and he began to fear the worst.   
  
"Ron." Harry held a hand out to block his friend from continuing on any further. "Let me check it out myself…if anything happens to me, don't come up…no need for more of us dying then there has to be."  
  
"But Harry…" Ron protested, but Harry shook his head and began climbing up the steep steps.  
  
When he'd reached the doorway of the Owlery, the boy peered inside cautiously, his wand at the ready. Jonathan stood in the middle of the room, the Snidget caught between his fingers.  
  
"Jonathan…what are you doing?" Harry asked slowly, making his way up guardedly. "Here…give the Snidget to me."  
  
"Oh…but I don't want to." Jonathan replied in a monotone voice. "This Snidget…belongs to the Dark Lord."  
  
Harry froze. "The Dark Lord, Jonathan? No, it doesn't. Now, give it here…"  
  
Jonathan took a few steps back. "N-no…it belongs to the Dark Lord, and you can't have it."  
  
"Look, Jonathan, I don't know what's come over you, but that Snidget belongs to Dumbledore. Now if you'll just hand it over-"  
  
"GO AWAY! THE DARK LORD SHALL MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE PUNISHMENT FOR MESSING WITH HIS PLANS! THIS IS HIS SNIDGET AND ONLY HE SHALL HAVE IT! ONLY HE CAN HAVE THE POWER OF IMMORTALITY!" Jonathan screamed, pointing his wand at Harry. "NOW GO AWAY! I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE THIS!"  
  
Harry moistened his lips very slowly. "…All right. I'll go." Backing away, he reached the doorway, and Jonathan began to lower his wand. Seizing this opportunity, Harry leaped behind the rows of cages and roosts and cried out a disarming spell, pointing his wand amid the roosting owls. Startled, thousands of the birds rose up into the air, crying out in a wild panic. Jonathan, startled, toppled to the floor, his wand rolling off.   
  
"Accio wand!" Harry commanded, and Jonathan's wand leapt obediently into Harry's hand.  
  
"N-no…no you can't…" Jonathan mumbled, his eyes glazed over in the same fashion as Draco's had been. "THE DARK LORD WON'T LIKE THIS! I'LL BE PUNISHED!" His fingers closed tighter about the Snidget's fragile body, and Harry quickly bent over to pry Jonathan's hand apart and free the suffocating bird.   
  
"AGH!" Jonathan struggled to crawl off with the Snidget still between his fingers. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry growled, and Jonathan fell, stiff as a board. "…Thank you." Reaching over, Harry released the Snidget and began stroking it softly. The tiny bird cheeped feebly, and recognizing Harry as its savior, hopped upon his shoulder.   
  
His forehead wet with perspiration, Harry was about to leave the room when a sudden force hit him hard in the chest, sending him hurtling through the air and landing hard against the wall. His scar began to burn, and wincing, Harry looked up through watery eyes to see someone clothed in dark robes standing before him.  
  
"Well, Potter…you almost got away with it, didn't you?" The stranger said coldly. "Well…I'll just be taking that Snidget off your hands…and after I've killed you, I can report to the Dark Lord and everything will just be dandy…"  
  
"You…you're the one who was talking with Lucius Malfoy in the hallway that night…weren't you?" Harry said accusingly, recognizing the stranger's voice. "Who are you?"  
  
"Who I am, boy, is none of your business." The dark robed figure replied, his face covered with a mask. "Now…I worked very hard to get Jonathan here to cooperate with me, and I don't need you messing everything up…so if you'll kindly hand the bird over…"  
  
"No. I'd rather not." Harry replied, reaching over and stroking the Snidget's chest slowly. "I'm afraid I've grown rather attached."  
  
"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to separate you two." The robed figure gave a long, feigned sigh.  
  
Harry gritted his teeth as he clutched both his and Jonathan's wand tightly in his fists. The person before him was obviously a Death Eater, though by the sound of it, he was not native to the area. As Harry struggled to buy time to think of the right spell to say, he noticed that he now stood in front of an open window.   
  
"So you used the Imperius Curse on him, did you?" Harry asked, referring to Jonathan, who lay sprawled upon the cold stone floor.   
  
"Yes, and on your little classmate Malfoy as well." The robed figure paused for a moment as he spoke.   
  
"Well, why those two?" Harry replied.  
  
"Obviously, Malfoy and Jonathan are the type who would be up to no good, so of course I'd select them to help me. Why would I want to capture the Snidget myself when I can get others to do it for me? It's so simple. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already."  
  
"But students our age don't have the power to do the kind of magic you made Malfoy and Jonathan do!" Harry argued.  
  
"If a simple boy such as you could walk away from the Dark Lord's Avada Kedavra curse with nothing but a simple scar, then why can't two ordinary schoolboys be able to execute difficult spells?" The stranger replied simply. "Now look…I'm going to ask one last time. Give me the Snidget."  
  
"When Madam Pomrey discovers that Malfoy was put under the Imperius Curse, your plans will be ruined!" Harry said, glaring up at the stranger.   
  
"Oh…he won't live long enough for that to happen." The stranger laughed evilly. "I'll make sure of that." Raising his wand, he pointed it directly at Harry's chest. "Good-bye, Harry Potter. I'm almost sorry that I didn't get the chance to get to know you better."  
  
Harry gave a simple smile, shaking his head. "Wrong." The Snidget had begun to sing.  
  
The spell flew from the stranger's wand tip and hit its target square in the chest, knocking Harry's breath away. Yet while Harry remained unscathed, the impact of the spell had knocked him off his balance, and he toppled backwards. The Snidget lit off his shoulder in alarm, and the robed figure dove for the little bird. Harry gritted his teeth and reached out, everything seeming to move in slow motion. His fingers closed around soft feathers, and he grinned in satisfaction, hearing the Death Eater cry out in alarm.   
  
The next moment, Harry felt himself falling through nothing but empty air, and looking back, realized he'd toppled out the window. The stranger was now above him, wringing his hands in frustration and angst, seeing that he'd failed to retrieve the Snidget.   
  
As he fell, Harry had one part of his mind focused upon attacking the Death Eater and the other on saving himself from falling to death. The boy finally reached his final decision and pulled out Jonathan's wand.   
  
"Impedimenta!" He cried out, pointing Jonathan's wand up at the window. At the same time he aimed his own wand at himself, shouting, "Wingardium Leviosa!" He did not have time to see if he had hit his attacker, who had disappeared from the open window, but to Harry's relief, his Levitating Charm had successfully caused him to float about in midair. Using his wand as a guide, Harry lowered himself gingerly and slowly to the grass below.   
  
He stood there, his heart beating a mile a minute. The Snidget twittered softly, pushed itself out of Harry's grasp, and settled itself upon his shoulder. Knowing that he was still in possible danger, Harry took in a deep breath and began heading towards the main building for Professor McGonagall's office. 


	7. Paige's Stand

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch6  
  
Dear Ron and Harry,  
  
I received your letter and in reply I must say that I wish that I were at Hogwarts to help solve the problem. In any case, I've done some thinking over the dilemma that's at hand, and I've come to the following conclusion: Voldemort's plan has gone wrong and now he wants the birds for himself. I highly suspect that one or both of the people you ran into the hallway that night are working under assumed identities at Hogwarts, and could even possibly be a student…  
  
Before I say anything else, I must let you both know that the reason you were unable to reach Dumbledore was because he'd gone to Chimeral to do a little investigation himself. When I received your letter this morning, it had just been announced that the Headmaster here had been discovered in a state of insanity and had been sent to a hospital for treatment. The Snidget of course, disappeared. Dumbledore wants everyone to stay calm and continue on with their studies as usual, and he must have received your note to him from McGonagall, because he will be going back to Hogwarts in a few days.   
  
If you two ever run into some sort of difficulty while this Snidget business is going on, I suggest for you to put your best foot forward and use what you are best at to fight off you-know-who…I care too much about you both to see either of you get hurt.  
  
Best Wishes, Hermione  
  
"If Dumbledore is coming back soon, then we can tell him everything then." Ron nodded with approval.   
  
Harry folded up the letter slowly. "I wonder how the Headmaster at Chimeral was driven to insanity."  
  
Ron shrugged. "Well, you said before that you-know-who had the birds sing a song that caused the Imperius Curse to be placed upon the listener. Maybe after listening to it for a long time, the Headmaster was driven to insanity."  
  
"That might be it." Harry nodded. "I think we should let McGonagall know what we've found out though, in case Dumbledore doesn't get back in time."  
  
"Good idea." Ron stood from the table. "Anyhow, we'd better get started to class then. The earlier we let her know the better."  
  
- -  
  
"So what you're saying that along with all this business of someone at Hogwarts placing the Imperius Curse upon Draco and Jonathan, you suspect the person who attacked you in the Owlery is someone who is working under an assumed identity here and could even be a student?" Professor McGonagall asked, placing her book down. "And that some of the Snidgets have some sort of power to drive a person to insanity while others give the power of immortality?"  
  
"Well, yes." Ron nodded.   
  
"It all sounds a bit complicated I know…but its true, we're sure of it!" Harry exclaimed. "Professor, you've got to do something!"   
  
Their instructor gave both of them a long, stern look before speaking. "I believe you, but I only have your words as evidence and nothing solid to really work upon. No one at Hogwarts has experienced anything out of the ordinary, and-"  
  
"What about Hagrid? What about Draco and Jonathan? What about everyone at the last Quidditch match? The Headmaster at Chimeral? Hermione? Professor, everyone's been affected by what's happening!" Harry argued, breaking in. "Everyone's going to be in danger if we don't stop this now!"  
  
"Potter, if you'd give me a chance to speak…" Professor McGonagall removed her spectacles. "I have made sure that security has been tightened at Hogwarts, particularly after the incident with Lucius Malfoy. The Snidget you retrieved the other day has been placed under special care and safety, and word has been sent to all major wizarding schools. I appreciate both of you coming forward with any information you have, but there is no need for panic, I assure you."  
  
"…Right." Harry unclenched his fists slowly.  
  
"We'll let you know if we find out anything else." Ron pursed his lips, looking to his feet.  
  
"Would you pass on the word to Dumbledore, then?" Harry asked.  
  
"Of course." Their professor gave them a smile. "I'll make sure he knows."  
  
"…Thanks."   
  
Harry and Ron seated themselves at their usual table and began unpacking the notes and textbooks they would need for Transfiguration that day. Since they'd arrived at class early, only they and their instructor were in the room. As Harry began to copy down the notes scrawled upon the board, he made a quick glance at his professor, who had returned to her book. The words from Hermione's letter flooded into his mind at that moment: "I highly suspect that one or both of the people you ran into the hallway that night are working under assumed identities at Hogwarts, and could even possibly be a student…"  
  
Both of the people speaking that night had been male, but Harry began to wonder if it were possible that there was more than one spy at Hogwarts. Had Professor McGonagall been placed under the Imperius Curse as well? Usually, their professor was more enthusiastic to assist them. Nudging Ron in the arm, Harry scribbled out his thoughts upon his parchment. His friend looked up at him with a shocked expression upon his face.  
  
"Have you gone mad?" Ron quickly scratched out what Harry had written. "That's impossible! McGonagall's our Head of House! She'd never be spying for you-know-who!"  
  
"Would you lower your voice just a little bit?" Harry hissed. "Now look. McGonagall could have fallen under the Imperius Curse…it's happened to people at Hogwarts already, hasn't it?"  
  
"I'll admit she's acting a bit funny…but would someone under the Imperius Curse be acting so suspiciously that it'd be obvious that they'd be cursed?" Ron replied, scratching his head.   
  
"Well, no." Harry admitted. "But I'm not going to rule her out as a suspect. I'm going to talk to Dumbledore myself."   
  
"Suit yourself. But I think you're getting to be a bit too suspicious of everyone, Harry." Ron said, returning to his notes.   
  
- -  
  
"Did you get what the teacher was saying about Repelling Spells?" Roger asked, thumbing through his textbook. "It was getting hard to understand after all the stuff about flicking your wand around…"  
  
"Don't worry about it." Eric shook his head. "No one understood what she was saying."  
  
"Tell me about it." Wei laughed. "Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts is a bit too confusing, if you ask me."  
  
"I'd gladly sit through a lesson at Chimeral instead." Alex yawned. Looking around, he noticed that one of their classmates was missing. "Hey, where's Paige?"  
  
"She's getting her stuff together." Roger replied, looking behind them. "Hey Paige! You want us to wait for you?"   
  
His classmate looked up, brushing loose hair out of her eyes. "Oh, no, its alright…I'll catch up in a second; I've got to clean up and ask the teacher a question."  
  
"Oh. Okay…see you later then." Roger nodded and turned, walking out with the rest of his friends.  
  
Paige rolled up her parchment and placed it in her book bag, along with her quills and bottles of ink. After heading up to the teacher to turn in her paper and ask about the Repelling Spell, Paige threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder and began to read through her notes for that day softly to herself.   
  
Making her way out of the classroom, she was in the middle of mumbling, "Flick your wand up once and then swiftly to the left" when someone called out her name. Paige nearly tripped over her own feet, recognizing the voice, and a wave of annoyance and fear swept through her at the same moment. Ignoring the person however, she cleared her throat, returned to her notes, and strode off in the direction of her next class.  
  
"Hey! Where d'you think you're going?" A hand clamped down over her arm, and she wrenched herself painfully away.  
  
"Leave me alone, Draco." She snapped, unable to look him in the face.   
  
"I need to talk to you." The Slytherin growled. "And I'm letting you go until I get an answer."  
  
"Look, if you don't want my brother to hex you again, you'd better leave me and all the other Chimeral students alone!" Paige warned, though her voice shook a little. She continued to walk, but Draco strode ahead of her and blocked her way.   
  
"Hey. Your brother isn't the only one who knows how to use a wand, and unfortunately for you, he doesn't happen to be around here at the moment." Draco sneered. "Now. I want to know…what you did to me that day in the hallway when I had that little row with Potter?"   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Paige replied. When it appeared obvious that Draco was not going to be satisfied with that answer, she sighed. "Look, I don't remember anything like that. Truthfully. Now…I'm sure we both have places to go and things to do, so…I'll just be leaving." She tried to push past Draco, yet he continued to stand defiantly in her way. As Paige moistened her lips slowly, trying to think of what to do, Draco raised a silver eyebrow.   
  
"You're thinking of putting another hex on me, aren't you? Well its not going to happen." He took a step forward. "Now hurry up and answer my question…I don't have all day."  
  
"Stop making things up, Draco." Paige muttered. "And stop making stupid threats." She raised her head to face him, and the minute she did so he felt a prickling sensation all over. Draco was surprised to find that it didn't hurt, and was in fact, somewhat satisfying. Yet he was uncomfortable not knowing why he had experienced the feeling, and he backed away slightly.   
  
"Stop it!" He ordered, pulling out his wand. "What're you doing to me?"   
  
"Stop what?" Paige retorted, impatient to get to class.  
  
When Draco did not reply and only stood there, she took the chance to pass him, and brushed past to continue down the hallway. However, she was forced to stop, feeling the hard point of a wand tip dig between her shoulder blades.  
  
"Draco. I'm going to be late for class." Paige said through gritted teeth. "And besides…isn't your little girlfriend waiting for you?"  
  
Draco prodded his wand deeper into his classmate's flesh. "…What girlfriend?"  
  
"You're so disgusting, Draco. Just like Terry…" Paige shook her head slightly. "Oblivious to the people who care about you."  
  
"Quit changing the subject!" Draco growled, clutching his wand tightly. "Now look…you said that day that I'd regret hurting you…and then you looked at me in a funny way that made me feel unusual…not even Pomfrey knew what happened to me! Just what kind of power do you have?"  
  
There were a few moments of silence after Draco's voice had stopped echoing about the hallways. Paige looked down to her feet where she stood.  
  
"You know, Draco…I'm telling you the truth when I said I didn't do anything. I only told you you'd regret doing what you did because I knew my brother would come and get you." She paused, and then turned. "The only explanation I can think of is that…you're feeling guilt. Guilt that you broke the spirit of every student you ever talked down to in scorn, and when you finally saw how hurt I was…well…it's a possibility, but maybe you finally felt badly about hurting someone." Paige's voice continued to tremble slightly. "I'll tell you the truth, Draco. I'm scared of you. Scared that you'll hurt me, like you hurt me the day I discovered the truth about Terry. Scared that you'll hurt my friends. Even if my brother taught you a lesson, so what? You'd leave me alone maybe, but not the other students.   
  
I went through enough of the bullying and taunting at Chimeral, where Jonathan would do just as you're doing to me right now." Paige stepped forward, and the tip of Draco's wand slid down her neck. "But you know what? I'm tired of running…crying." She raised her own wand with a trembling hand. "I never acted against Jonathan…because we were together once, and I knew he had a side to him that could be gentle and kind…I tried to bring that out in him, but I failed. Along with that…I always feared him…he was capable of wielding such pain in his words…pain that you inflict on students here as well. But I've had enough, Draco."   
  
Clearing her throat softly, she came right up to the Slytherin, so that he could feel her breath against his neck and feel her eyelashes brush against his skin, though she did not meet his eyes. He saw her lips move and heard the spell she said. He could easily have stopped her with a counter spell, but something in her eyes stopped him.   
  
In that brief moment, Draco's thoughts began to piece themselves together one by one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pansy, who had been waiting for him outside of class. She was crouched in a corner, weeping softly, unable to do anything to help. He knew that she didn't have the courage to cast a spell upon another student, yet the tears she shed were meant for him.  
  
So that's what Paige meant by "girlfriend", Draco realized. He'd never realized that Pansy had cared, or that it had been so obvious to everyone. Yet something still didn't quite make sense, and he averted his gaze from Pansy to stare ahead for a moment. Paige had accounted his strange feelings as Guilt. Draco knew this was wrong, for he had experienced what Guilt felt like and what he had been feeling the past few months wasn't it.   
  
Sometimes, when he was around Pansy and in high spirits, he'd feel a rush of gratification whenever the girl would give him adoring smiles and say words of praise. He'd feel pleased and appreciated, though it was different compared to the pleased and appreciated feelings he felt when among his fellow Slytherins. Draco inhaled softly, and looked down to meet Paige's gaze.   
  
The feeling he felt when around Paige after what had happened in the hallway was very much how he felt when Pansy contented him, but intensified to a degree where it made him uncomfortable. He couldn't explain it - perhaps it was the way she laughed, or the silly things she did absentmindedly in class, like twist a lock of hair around her finger or twirl her pencil. Maybe it was the way she'd call him by his name. Or perhaps it was only the way she had looked at him when he'd held her against him with his wand pressed up against her face. The hatred and fear pulsating throughout her had captivated him in a way he had never thought possible.   
  
He'd take a few moments in class sometimes; while he was wondering why he felt the way he did, to glare in her direction, only to see that she'd been watching him as well. She'd look away in frustration, seeing that he'd caught her staring, and the strange feeling inside would intensify and cause him to squirm a little in his seat.  
  
Yet as Draco was beginning to understand and decipher his feelings, the girl whom he no longer despised now stood before him, hatred etched in every angle of her face. He found her name forming upon the edge of his tongue, and just as he said it, the spell that she uttered found its mark in his chest, and he collapsed, everything dark and black.  
  
- -  
  
"Hogwarts students get to go to Hogsmeade for some fun every once in a while." Ron explained to Roger and the others, who walked alongside him. "It's great; we get to go through all the shops and eat great food…"  
  
"Sounds fun." Tess commented cheerfully, her plump cheeks shaking slightly as she laughed. "Actually, students at Chimeral go somewhere fun too…but we're only allowed to go once every semester."  
  
"Once a semester?" Ron looked horrified. "How do you manage?"  
  
"I know, it's amazing…" Eric shrugged. "That's why all the students look forward to those two days in a year."  
  
"Anyway, I suggest we go to the Three Broomsticks first. They've got the best butterbeer around…" Ron began speaking in the tone of a tour guide. "Then we can go wherever you'd like to…how about that new joke shop that opened…"  
  
As Harry walked along with the rest of his friends, he had a nagging feeling inside of him that wouldn't go away. A month had passed since Hermione's last letter and Dumbledore still had not returned, and unable to trust McGonagall, Harry had no one to turn to. When the trip to Hogsmeade had been announced, he'd been happy to finally have the chance to relax and get away from the stress he felt whenever he turned a corner in the hallways. Yet here he was, at Hogsmeade and feeling tense all over.  
  
"Hey Harry…you all right?" Ron asked, placing a hand upon his friend's shoulder.  
  
Harry looked up. "Oh…yeah, I am…"   
  
Ron gave his friend an encouraging smile. "Look, I know you're probably stressed out from all this business with the Snidgets…but that's no reason for you to think you have to take the burden of everything on your shoulders. We're all here to help you if anything happens."  
  
Harry smiled. "Thanks."  
  
"Now just try to relax." Ron said, looking around them. "Hogsmeade's supposed to be fun for all of us."  
  
Walking into the Three Broomsticks, Roger and the others seated themselves while Ron placed their orders. While they waited, Harry conversed with his friends about their next Quidditch match.  
  
"So what's going to happen now that the match with Ravenclaw got cancelled?" Roger asked. "There was a great deal of action going on until Jonathan started screaming his head off."  
  
"Oh...well, we're not quite sure what's going to happen." Ron admitted. "But I suppose that we'll have a rematch with them."  
  
"Hopefully we'll be able to beat them so we can have a go against Slytherin." Harry said. "I haven't gotten the chance to play against them for a long time."  
  
At that moment, their butterbeers were slapped down upon their table, and there was a bit of silence as everyone helped themselves to the sweet, savory liquid. After paying for their share, everyone headed outside. After Ron had pointed out some shops that were popular among students, everyone split up for an hour, promising to meet back where they'd separated.  
  
Sixty minutes later, Harry greeted Roger, who had bought himself a few Quidditch supplies and waved his arm the moment he saw Harry.   
  
"Hey Harry! The shops here are awesome! Better than back at Chimeral!"  
  
Harry grinned. "What'd you get?"  
  
"Oh, just some stuff that'll help my broom fly better…a twig trimmer…polish…nothing much. Did you get anything?"  
  
"Oh, no. I just browsed around a bit." Harry replied. "Glad to see you had fun though."  
  
Wei came striding up with Henry, and Melody appeared with Eric. Alex and Paige came shortly afterwards, with Ron in the lead. Everyone's faces were beaming and Harry could tell that they'd all had a good time.   
  
"Where shall we go next, then?" Ron asked. "I'm pretty sure we've covered all the shops here…"  
  
"How about we just find a place to sit down?" Wei replied, brushing dust off her robes. "My legs are feeling a bit tired and I'm sure we could all go for some rest."  
  
"Tired already?" Alex shook his head. "You must be kidding me."   
  
"It's all right." Roger said quickly, seeing the disgusted look upon Wei's face. "I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement. How about we go and sit down for a little…we have the whole afternoon after all."  
  
"All right." Ron looked about. "Harry, where d'you reckon we could find a good place to sit?"  
  
"What kind of question is that?" Harry retorted in amusement. He looked over his shoulder, and spotted a few benches and tables atop a small hill. "Let's go over there."  
  
Once everyone had seated themselves, they admired the view that they had from where they sat. While Ron discussed Quidditch with Roger, Alex and Eric, Harry was faced with the girls.  
  
"Its really lovely up here Harry. Have you come here before?" Tess asked from across the table.   
  
"Well…no." Harry replied. "I just saw the benches…"  
  
"Oh. Then you were lucky then." Wei sighed loudly. "I was about to say that you could have brought Cho here last year…it is really pretty up here…maybe then she would have chosen to stay with you instead of gone out with that Michael Corner…"  
  
Harry pursed his lips, and forced a smile upon his face. "Wei…must you always bring up the subject of your sister?"  
  
Wei looked blankly at Harry. "Why not?"  
  
"Because…its annoying. And it'd help if you weren't so bitter all the time, either."  
  
"Well I can't help being the way I am, Harry." Wei replied coolly. "You had an awfully hard time accepting my sister for being the way she was too, if I remember." Standing, she turned and walked off.  
  
Harry was left in a state of awkward silence. The girls looked to each other for a moment, and Tess smiled a little.  
  
"It's all right, Harry. That's just Wei being herself…and even if she is, in your words, a bit bitter all the time, she's only watching out for her sister. I suppose if you listen to Cho's side of the story, you were probably a bit insensitive during your relationship with her. But everyone's point of view is different, so don't stress."  
  
Harry nodded slowly, still a bit angry. Looking up, he gave a quick smile to the remaining people who sat before him before looking off towards the street behind them. A brisk moving figure caught his eye and taking a better look, Harry saw a young man dressed in dark robes heading off towards the path that led to the woods. His suspicions raised, Harry continued to watch the young man, whose features could not be made out clearly because of the distance between them. The young man paused a little, looking behind him to ensure that no one was following him, placed his hood over his head, and disappeared into the trees. 


	8. Into the Woods

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch7  
  
  
  
Harry tensed, and he felt his scar tingle against his flesh. Melody seemed to notice Harry's discomfort, for she reached over and placed a hand upon his shoulder.   
  
"Harry? Do you see something? What's wrong?"   
  
"…I need to check something out." Harry replied. Standing slowly, he began to break out into an all out run towards the path where the figure had disappeared. He heard Ron cry out from behind him and Roger telling him to stop, but Harry had a feeling that the figure that had disappeared into the trees was the one who had attacked him in the tower and he was determined to have his hypothesis confirmed.   
  
Once he'd reached the trees, Harry crashed into the underbrush and stood there for a moment, panting. The path continued to twist and turn through the trees, but the branches had grown so thick that Harry's vision was limited; everything a few feet from him was hidden in darkness even though it was only a few hours past noon.  
  
"Lumos." He mumbled, and the tip of his wand ignited in a beam of light. He was about to continue further when he felt someone crash roughly into him, and turning in shock, his alarm was emolliated when he realized that it was only Ron.   
  
"Harry! What d'you think you're doing? You've been acting weird lately, but I didn't really think it was a big deal until you started running off into the woods for no reason…" Ron shook some leaves out of his hair. "What's going on?"  
  
"I saw someone…a person dressed in dark robes enter the forest. I've got the feeling that he's the one who attacked me in the Owlery." Harry looked about his surroundings, trying his best to make out the path through the darkness.  
  
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, squinting through the gloom.   
  
"Yes, I'm sure." Harry replied, beginning to move forward.   
  
"Harry, its dangerous in there!" Roger cried out. "You might get lost or something and we wouldn't know how to get you out!"  
  
"It doesn't matter! If not even McGonagall's going to take some action to solving this whole thing then I might as well…I always do, don't I?" Harry grumbled bitterly as he continued down the path.   
  
"W-well…can't leave you wandering about in there!" Roger shouted. He lighted the tip of his own wand and strode forward. "I'm coming with you!"   
  
Alex stretched out his arms and followed. "If Roger's going…I might as well go…" He pulled out his wand and lit it. Eric and Henry did the same, and Tess and Melody followed. Ron looked to Harry.  
  
"I guess we're all going, then." He gave his friend a small smile as he muttered, "Lumos".  
  
Yet Harry knew there was one more student who hadn't lighted her wand, and he looked to her for a moment. "You can go back if you want…I'd rather most of you stay back so none of you get hurt…"  
  
Paige hesitated for a moment, choosing her words. "I-its not that…its just that…w-what if one of us…gets…killed or something?"  
  
"…It might happen." Harry replied quietly, remembering Sirius, and an ache of pain struck him in the chest. "…But it's a chance we're taking."  
  
Raising her wand, Paige lit it, her hand trembling a little. "I'm sorry…I know I look like I'm scared and everything…but…I d-don't want to die."  
  
"It's okay to be scared, Paige." Henry placed a comforting arm about his sister. "No one expects you to be brave and ready to give up your life like that."  
  
"Its stupid…when it just happens to be me who doesn't want to go into the woods and face…whatever it is in there." Paige pursed her lips. "…I'll wait here for the rest of you…in case…something goes wrong, I'll be ready to alert someone."  
  
"Good for you, Paige." Melody smiled.   
  
"All right. It'll be just us, then." Ron looked about them.   
  
"Everyone keep a watch out for anything unusual or dangerous." Harry said. "And if we get separated, send up sparks so we can see, and stay where you are."  
  
Once everyone had agreed, they followed one by one behind Harry, who led the way into the dark forest.  
  
"Bye, Paige." Roger, the last in line, turned and waved to his classmate. She gave a shaky smile back.  
  
"Make sure you get back in one piece, all right?" She said, her eyes full of worry. "Please."  
  
- -  
  
After a while of wandering about, Harry called for a rest stop, and the little group settled down among the brush.  
  
"How long have we been here?" Alex moaned, running his fingers through his hair. "It's getting dark out too…"  
  
"The only thing that could make this any worse would be rain." Henry grumbled. "Stuck in a stupid forest, all wet and sticky…" He shuddered.  
  
Eric stood that moment, and everyone stared at him. He looked about them, raising his wand up above him to look at their surroundings. "You know what guys? I think we're lost. Just admit it. We're lost!"   
  
Tess tried to calm her friend down. "Now Eric, take it easy…we'll figure something out, we've just got to keep going…"  
  
"Oh, you'll talk!" Eric retorted. "What if you were wrong about what you saw, Harry?" He asked, turning on his classmate. "What if the person you saw was just a regular old person and we were tagging along for nothing?"  
  
"Hey! Don't say that!" Ron snapped. "It was your decision to come along and Harry's rarely been wrong…besides, the last thing we need is distrust amongst ourselves."  
  
"Ron's right." Roger agreed. "If we ever want to get out of here then we've got to work together."  
  
Eric threw a glare at his fellow Chimeral classmate before plopping down beside Alex. There was a few moments silence, and Harry exhaled softly.   
  
"We'd better get a move on, then." He said quietly. "Sky's darkening fast."   
  
They all stood and began to walk again, Harry leading. After what felt like another hour's worth of walking, Eric was about to complain again when he was cut off by Roger's harsh whispering.   
  
"Did you hear that guys?" He hissed, backing up slightly.   
  
"Yeah…someone's up ahead!" Harry replied, and began to pick his way as quickly and quietly as he could towards the noise.  
  
"What did you hear?" Alex glanced around at the others as they followed.  
  
"I dunno…sounded like some people talking…" Roger replied.  
  
"Put out your wands! We don't want to be seen!" Ron ordered, flicking his wand about to rid himself of the light. As the others followed suit, Harry looked ahead of them into the open clearing.  
  
"I see three people up on the field…and something really shiny…" He squinted, trying his best to see without the light from his wand. "Looks like a bunch…"  
  
"A bunch of Snidgets!" Ron grasped upon his friend's sleeve in shock. "They're all locked up in a cage!"  
  
"Who're those people out there?" Eric whispered from where he stood. "Why are they dressed like that?"   
  
"Death Eaters…" Harry narrowed his eyes. "And they're up to no good."  
  
"What're they doing?" Henry asked. "Why have they got all those birds in that cage?"  
  
"I've got a feeling that whatever they're doing, its bad news." Ron replied darkly.  
  
"Oh my gosh…" Melody drew in a sharp breath. "W-what should we do?"   
  
Harry set his jaw. "Stop them."   
  
- -  
  
"Look!" Millicent screamed loudly, pointing out the window. "It's Potter, running into the forest like a madman!"  
  
"What?" Draco looked up from the broomstick he'd been handling and followed Millicent's gaze out the window. In the distance, he saw the fleeting figure of Harry running down the narrow path that led to the forest.   
  
"What does he think he's doing?" Jonathan said suspiciously.   
  
Pansy stood up upon her toes to get a better look. "Everyone knows that once you go in there, its impossible to find your way out…and besides, who knows what's in there?"  
  
"Well, its Potter. Who cares what happens to him?" Draco commented, and everyone laughed. "It'd be nice if he were attacked by some large animal…torn to pieces…"  
  
"T-that's…funny!" Goyle chortled loudly.  
  
"Draco, you're always so fun to be with!" Pansy giggled, linking her arm within his. "How do you do it?"  
  
"Ooh!" Millicent shrieked again, and Draco looked to his classmate in annoyance. "Millicent, really, would you stop screeching and jumping about like a rabid monkey? It's getting to be an bother and-"  
  
"No, no, no! Lookit!" Millicent exclaimed. "The Chimeral students!"   
  
"What?" Draco walked closer to the open window. The scarlet and black figures of seven Chimeral students were dashing off into the brush as well, following closely behind Harry. "…What…are…they doing?"  
  
"D'you think Potter saw something?" Pansy asked.  
  
"Maybe. Probably." Draco replied. "Hey Jonathan, what d'you think they're up to?" Draco turned to look for his friend. "…Jonathan?"   
  
The Chimeral student was nowhere in sight, and Draco furrowed his brow in confusion. "He was here…just a minute ago…"  
  
"Maybe he followed the others into the forest!" Millicent suggested loudly.   
  
"D'you reckon…we should follow them?" Crabbe asked dully.  
  
Draco was about to say no when he noticed that one of the Chimeral students had looked back, paused, and remained where they stood. Squinting to get a better look, Draco came closer to the window.   
  
"Who's that?" Pansy asked, noticing her friend's substantial expression. "Are you looking at the one at the edge of the forest?"  
  
Draco placed a hand upon the window ledge. "…Paige."  
  
"Paige?" Pansy followed Draco's gaze outside. "Who's that? Draco, say something!"   
  
Draco took a slow step away from the window, then looked to the others. "Sure. Let's follow 'em. I haven't had much fun these past few months…"  
  
"All right…" Goyle gave a crooked smile, and led the way out of the shop, Draco not far behind.   
  
As they rounded the corner of the store, Draco focused his eyes upon the forest ahead and was shocked to discover that Paige had disappeared. Quickening his pace, he pulled a very incompliant Pansy along with him, and upon reaching the forest edge, looked about frantically.  
  
"She was just here!" He cried out. Crashing into the underbrush, he was dismayed to discover that the rest of the path was shrouded in darkness.   
  
"D-draco…I-I d-don't really…w-want to g-go…in there…p-please…" Pansy stuttered, trembling.   
  
"So…are we going in?" Goyle asked, scratching his head.   
  
"Yes." Draco replied firmly, and Pansy moaned slightly as she followed close behind. Lighting up his wand, Draco held it up high above him, and the others lit their wands as well.   
  
"It's s-so dark in here." Millicent swallowed hard. "Just what exactly are we doing?"  
  
Draco looked back. "As I said before, I wanted to have some fun. Besides…it'd be interesting to see what Potter is up to."   
  
"I-I thought you w-were looking f-for someone…" Pansy whimpered.   
  
"Quiet!" Draco snapped, and began trekking through the underbrush. "Stay close together…I don't want to have to go back looking for anyone."  
  
- -  
  
"Split up." Harry said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "We don't want to become a big target for them…and don't attack unless they notice that we're here."  
  
"Right." Roger and the others nodded, paired up, and divided into different directions. Harry stayed close with Ron, who was holding his wand with a slightly trembling hand. As they sneaked closer to the figures upon the clearing, Harry began to try to pick up parts of their conversation.  
  
"These are the mixed birds, right?" One of the hooded figures asked, placing a hand against the metal bars.  
  
"Yeah. Some of 'em are the ones we were able to retrieve before reaching their final destinations." Another Death Eater replied. Harry cringed, recognizing the stranger's voice as the one who had placed the Imperius Curse upon Jonathan and Draco. "I couldn't get to the one in Hogwarts though…I had some…complications."  
  
"Right, right." The third Death Eater spoke, and this time it was Ron's turn to shudder. Harry gritted his teeth; the third Death Eater was none other than Lucius Malfoy.   
  
"When are we due for departure?" The second person asked. "We've been waiting for half an hour already!"  
  
"Patience!" Lucius snapped. "The Dark Lord said there would be people to assist us shortly after we brought everything here. Since we couldn't get the Snidget from Hogwarts, we're just going to have to leave it. But everything else we need is here…the Dark Lord should be satisfied with these until we can get the last and final bird back."  
  
"I hope you're right…" The first Death Eater grumbled. "I'd hate to have to face the Dark Lord when he's having a bad day…"  
  
"We've got to get that cage unlocked." Harry murmured. "That'd release all the birds…I'd bet all my money that the birds in there have the power to sing the song of immortality. It'd be better to get them free; then Voldemort wouldn't have them for himself!"   
  
"Right." Ron nodded. "But how do we do it without the Death Eaters noticing?"   
  
Harry raised his wand. "I'm going to use that spell Flitwick taught us to unlock the cage. Then, run. If you can, disarm as many of the Death Eaters as you can, but don't do it if they're already on your tail."  
  
"What about the others, Harry?" Ron asked in a worried tone. "They don't know what we're going to do!"   
  
"Hopefully they'll catch on to what we're doing…if something goes wrong, we're just going to have to fight it out."   
  
"Oh…" Ron swallowed hard. "Right."   
  
Harry moistened his lips as he looked to the cage full of glowing Snidgets and uttered the spell. "Alohomora."  
  
The charm hit its mark successfully, and the enclosure swung open. At first, the Death Eaters seemed oblivious to what was happening; yet when the glittering wings of the Snidgets began to emerge from the cage, they cried out in alarm and struggled to retrieve the escaping birds.   
  
"Petrificus Totalus." Ron muttered, and one of the Death Eaters cried out, falling stiff as a board onto the grass. At the same time, Harry murmured a Stunning Spell, which, to his dismay, was blocked by the third Death Eater with a Shield Charm. Pulling Ron back, Harry knew that they'd been spotted, and the two of them made a mad dash back to into the forest. All around them, Snidgets flew about, and an idea formed inside of Harry's mind.   
  
"Ron!" He cried out over the noise. "If we can get ourselves a Snidget and have it sing, then we're safe!"   
  
"Got it!" Ron nodded, reached up, and attempted to grasp upon a Snidget. Yet it evaded Ron's fingers easily, and the red-haired boy looked to Harry in dismay. "It's too hard! They fly away the moment I touch them!"   
  
Harry furrowed his brow, trying to think of a solution while they ran. What had Hermione said in her last letter? The familiar writing of his friend wound into his memory, and he heard her voice speak the words she'd written:  
  
"I suggest for you to put your best foot forward and use what you are best at to fight off you-know-who…"  
  
"Best foot forward…what I'm best at…" Harry mumbled. "That's Quidditch, probably…"   
  
"Quidditch?" Ron gasped as he ran. "That's the best thing Hermione can come up with to help us? Quidditch?"   
  
"No…" Harry replied slowly, the wheels in his head beginning to turn. "She wants us to fly…Accio Broomstick!" He raised his wand and cried out. Ron did the same after a few seconds of confusion.   
  
Hoping that his spell had worked, Harry ducked his head and tripped over a tree branch upon touching the forest's edge. He could hear the Death Eaters screaming, their footsteps not seeming to be too far behind. Beside him, he could hear Ron's faint panting, and was about to turn around and attack again when a broomstick flew into view. Grasping its handle, Harry automatically climbed upon it and launched himself into the air. Below, Ron had found a broomstick as well and took off upon it.   
  
Harry knew that the broomstick he sat upon was not his own since he had not specified, but in the intensity of the moment, he'd called out whatever had popped into his mind. He'd never handled this broomstick before, so he was a bit shaky in flight for the first few seconds. He easily reached out and grasped upon a Snidget however, and turning, was pleased to see that Roger and Eric had managed to call upon broomsticks as well. What worried him now, were the rest of the students who remained down below.   
  
"Harry! Are you sure its okay to fly?" Ron looked to the sky. "It looks like its going to rain!"  
  
"I'm going to take that chance!" Harry replied, shouting over the strong winds that were beginning to blow. "The sooner we can finish this, the sooner we can get out of the sky!"  
  
"Tess and the others are going to stay down there in case something happens to us up here!" Roger called out, dodging a deadly spark of light emitted from a Death Eater's wand. "What d'you want us to do, Harry?"   
  
"I think the Snidgets here all have the power to sing the song of immortality!" Harry replied, struggling to gain control of his broomstick, which twitched about in the high winds. "Get them to sing, and you'll be safe from the Death Eaters!"  
  
"Right!" Roger and Eric flew off in different directions, each diving swiftly in turn to capture Snidgets for themselves. Yet something grew terribly wrong as soon as Eric closed his fingers about the bird he caught. The bird twittered about in the boy's grasp just like any Snidget, yet when Eric finally coaxed it to sing, the bird sang a tune different from its usual song. Harry watched in shock as Eric's eyes began to glaze over. Roger flew quickly in the direction of his classmate, yet was knocked off course when Eric suddenly jerked upwards and pointed his wand at him, muttering a Disarming Spell.  
  
"Eric! What's wrong with you?" Harry yelled out.  
  
"It's the bird…" Ron spoke with a trembling voice. "It sang a different song…and now Eric's hexed…" He quickly released the Snidget he'd captured from out of his hands. "The Imperius Curse…he's fallen under the Imperius Curse!"   
  
"Roger, let go of your Snidget, now!" Harry cried out, and the Chimeral student quickly freed the golden bird. "The cage must have been filled with birds who could sing the song of immortality…and those who sang the song Voldemort intended…"  
  
"What're we going to do, Harry?" Ron cried out, cringing as he was narrowly missed by a Stunning Spell fired from below.  
  
Harry brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "We've got to fight back!" He dove, screaming, "Impedimenta!" at his opponent. The Death Eater dodged the attack, yet his mask was torn away by Harry's hands, and everyone looked in shock at the villain unmasked. 


	9. Jonathan

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch8  
  
  
  
"Professor Remora!" Roger cried out. "I-I never…"  
  
"He's the one who's been spying on everyone at Hogwarts…the one who made sure that the Snidget reached Dumbledore…" Ron shook his head slowly. "Never thought it…"  
  
"Professor, how could you?" Roger shouted, and at the same time Harry saw sparks fly from amongst the brush, causing cries of alarm from the two other Death Eaters. The Snidgets flying over above was enough to distract the enemy, who were scrambling to gather the birds back in the cage and attack the students at the same time. Harry took the opportunity to use every hex, charm, and spell he knew against the criminals below, yet was interrupted by a sudden cry from Ron, who was being chased by the cursed Eric. Harry looked to Roger, who nodded quickly and flew off to stop his classmate from attacking.   
  
Below, Melody and Alex had crept closer and closer to their Professor, who was desperately crying out, "Accio Snidget!" but only receiving one bird at a time. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rolled loudly. Rain began to pour heavily from the clouds and Melody looked up in time to see a bolt of lighting strike the edge of Eric's broom. Crying out, the boy clutched his chest in pain and fell, landing lifeless upon the wet grass.   
  
Melody was about to let out a scream when Alex clamped a hand over her mouth to quell her, aiming a spell at their Professor at the same time. The teacher slipped, fell over backwards, and Alex stood, a spark of red light beginning to emerge from his wand tip.  
  
"This is for giving me that 'E' in your class last year." Alex cleared his throat, and the red light jetted straight at his instructor's face. The handsome teacher lay still and did not move after.  
  
Meanwhile, Harry had been busy distracting Lucius Malfoy while Roger and Ron concentrated upon attacking the other remaining Death Eater. As Harry dove in and out, did high loops and low dives, Draco's father and been desperately trying to aim his wand in the right direction.   
  
"Stop playing games with me, boy…it's getting you no where." Lucius sneered, eyeing Harry. "You're a good flyer…but that's not going to get you anywhere once the Dark Lord gets here."   
  
"Voldemort doesn't mean a thing to me at the moment." Harry retorted as he flew. He aimed his wand quickly over his shoulder and blasted a Stunning Spell at his target. Lucius lept deftly out of the way and pointed his own wand at Harry. A blaze of fire emerged from the Death Eater's wand tip, and though it was raining, Harry was alarmed to see that the end of his broom had burst in a conflagration of red and yellow.   
  
He tumbled to the grass, rolled over and raised his wand in counter attack. A jet of yellow light emerged from his wand and found its mark in Lucius's shoulder, and the middle-aged man groaned slightly from the pain, stumbling back but easily attacking once more. Harry was blown away by the jet of light hurtling towards him, and as he tried to regain his sense of equilibrium, he noticed that Tess had begun to assist attacking the second Death Eater with Ron and Roger, while Alex and Melody kept close watch over their fallen Professor. Harry felt an arm help him off the ground, and turned to see Henry, who was panting hard with dirt streaked across his face.   
  
"You all right, Harry?" He asked, looking to his friend.   
  
"Yeah." Harry nodded, raising his wand back to attack the enemy.   
  
"Potter, you aren't going to win, don't you understand that?" Draco's father laughed evilly. "Just quit while you're ahead…"  
  
"Shut-up!" Harry growled. "Stupefy!"   
  
Henry cried out his own spell, and while Harry missed Lucius, Henry was successful and knocked Draco's father into the mud. Harry hit the fallen Death Eater with a loud, "Petrificus Totalus!" and the man lay immobile in the wet dirt. Knowing that the spell would not last forever, Harry then came closer and hit his rival's father with a satisfying "Impedimenta!", which left the Death Eater unconscious, his mouth open.  
  
"Harry! It's getting hard to fly up here!" Ron called out from above. "We've got to come down!"   
  
"Right!" Harry replied, shouting over the wind. As Roger and Ron landed, Harry was satisfied to see that all of the Death Eaters had been defeated successfully, and that most of his companions had come out of the fight unscathed. Yet he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that the brawl had been a bit too easy, and that this wouldn't be the end.   
  
Melody came struggling up, supporting an unconscious Eric with her arm. Tess and Alex were gasping for air, and Henry's robes were coated with mud. Nearby, Roger and Ron were holding their broomsticks near their sides, congratulating each other on a good flight.   
  
The rain falling from above had relented slightly but not by much, and Harry was about to suggest they head for shelter when the sound of someone emerging from the underbrush caught his attention. Roger followed Harry's gaze to the edge of the clearing, and his eyes automatically narrowed. Tess gasped softly and Melody drew in a sharp breath.   
  
"Its Jonathan." Ron said in surprise. "Wonder what he's doing here."  
  
"Followed us, probably." Henry replied darkly.  
  
"I thought he was hanging out with the Slytherins." Alex said. "Did he bring them along too?"  
  
Ron frowned. "Maybe. Doesn't look like it though. Seems like he's by himself."  
  
"Huh." Henry strode forward. "Hey, Jon! What're you doing here?"  
  
There was a moment's silence, where Jonathan simply stared back with a slight smirk upon his face. He then came forward from the forest edge.   
  
"Shouldn't you be asking that question to yourself, buddy?"  
  
"Harry thought he saw someone enter the forest and we tagged along." Tess spoke up. "It turned out-"  
  
"I don't need your worthless explanation!" Jonathan snapped. "I saw all of you running into the forest like something was after you…so that sparked my interest." He glanced behind Roger to see the three limp bodies of the unconscious Death Eaters lying upon the grass. Raising an eyebrow, Jonathan strode over and knelt beside Professor Remora.   
  
"Well, well…looks like they got the best of you, didn't they, Professor?" Jonathan asked, placing his hand atop his teacher's forehead. "Pity, really…"  
  
Harry felt prickles run up his spine as he watched Jonathan run his fingers through the Death Eater's hair. Raising his wand, he pointed it at the Chimeral student, his scar tingling. "Get away from him."  
  
Jonathan looked up in amusement. "Oh. You think you can stop me from doing what I want to do, Potter?" He hovered his hand over Professor Remora's chest slowly for a moment. "I sincerely doubt that." A flash of light emerged from the end of Jonathan's wand, and everyone cried out in alarm, the beam blinding. Suddenly, Tess gave a blood-curling scream, and Harry's stomach turned upside-down at the sight before him.  
  
"P-professor…" Melody paled, trembling horribly. "O-oh…my….g-gosh…"  
  
"Oh jeez…" Roger closed his eyes and Alex began to retch.   
  
"W-what…h-how…why did you have to do that?" Tess wailed loudly. "He never did anything wrong! He was j-just-"  
  
"A Death Eater?" Jonathan began to laugh loudly. "Yes, he was a Death Eater. But a bad one." He looked to the blasted, bloody remains of his teacher. "Oh yes…poor Professor Remora…so young and eager for power…" He began to probe his wand amongst the bloody entrails. "But so careless. You should have known better than to leave your tracks uncovered…"  
  
"H-Harry…" Ron stuttered, his face turning green. "I-I'm beginning to t-think that…J-Jonathan…"  
  
"Yes! Yes, Mr. Weasley, you are correct in your thinking!" Jonathan looked up suddenly, his eyes beginning to undergo a startling metamorphosis. "You…are…so right…" He rammed his hand amongst the viscera and pulled out, to everyone's alarm, a still beating human heart. Standing, he began to near the little group, his reddening eyes pinpointed upon Harry.  
  
"What are you?" Harry shook his head in disgust, grasping his wand tightly.   
  
"Oh, you don't recognize me? I'm your classmate, Jonathan!" Jonathan gave a feigned sigh of exasperation. "Just look at me!" Throwing up his hands in contrived disbelief, he flung the heart away and pulled out his wand.   
  
"Your eyes…" Henry shook slightly. "Oh god, Jon…what happened to your eyes?"  
  
"You don't like them?" Jonathan turned upon his classmate, his hands bloody red. "Well…that is certainly a problem." Raising his arm, he brought his wand through the air, and Henry felt himself knocked to his feet and skidding through the wet grass upon his back towards his crazed classmate.   
  
"Jonathan! No!" Melody cried out.   
  
"Silencio!" Jonathan pointed his wand directly at the girl, and immediately she fell silent, though her lips still moved. She grasped her throat in desperation, yet was unable to say anything.  
  
"Anyway…as I was saying…" Jonathan faced Henry, who was trembling slightly from where he lay helplessly upon the ground. "You were having a little problem with my eyes, weren't you? Now-"  
  
"Flagrate!" Ron cried out, a jet of fire emerging from the tip of his wand. Yet just when it appeared he was about to hit Jonathan successfully, the Chimeral student disappeared and in his place appeared Henry, who cried out in pain as the flames began to lick at his flesh.  
  
Tess took action and uttered her own spell, a gentle spray of water emitting from her wand. Henry immediately collapsed upon the grass, groaning in pain as the conflagration was extinguished from his robes, and Melody scurried over to help him.  
  
"Now…you know what would make all this even better?" Jonathan asked from a different spot, his laughter reverberating endlessly in everyone's ears. "Oh yes…yes, I know…" He waved his wand over the two limp bodies of the remaining Death Eaters. To Harry's horror, they sprang to life, as if they'd never been knocked unconscious.  
  
With their numbers cut down to six, Harry bit his lip, wondering if they could take on Jonathan and two Death Eaters at the same time.   
  
"Harry!" Alex cried out. "How can we stop them? Eric and Henry can't fight, and Melody can't say any spells!"   
  
Harry could not find the words to reply, and instead raised his wand, facing the enemy. Ron however, attacked first with a fierce, "Reducto!"   
  
"Stupefy!" Roger cried nearby. His attack was reflected by a powerful Shield Charm, and he was hit hard in the face by his own spell. Toppling backwards, he fell into the grass and did not move.  
  
"Harry!" Ron cried desperately, rainwater dripping down his face. "I don't think-"  
  
"Don't say it!" Harry snapped, narrowly dodging the Death Eater's attack. When his attacker pounced upon him and pinned him down, Harry pointed his wand behind his back, blowing his assailant away.   
  
In another area of the field, Alex had his hands full, dueling with Draco's father. Desperately using every spell he knew, the boy neared his classmate, who sat with the other wounded Chimeral students. Taking her chance, Melody rammed her wand straight between Lucius Malfoy's legs, and he collapsed with a painful groan. Ron ran swiftly over and placed a body-binding spell upon their assailant, then turned his attention towards Harry's battle.  
  
Harry cried out a Stunning Spell, but the Death Eater evaded it easily, snickering. She then made the all too familiar slashing motion with her wand, the curiously purple flame trailing along the wand tip. Tess, who had been waiting for the right moment to attack, seemed mesmerized by the little blaze and stood frozen to where she stood.  
  
"Get out of the way!" Harry cried out, grasping upon the Chimeral student's arm. Yet when he'd finally managed to push her out of the Death Eater's attack range, she fell hard into the mud, her eyes open and glassy.  
  
"Oh jeez…" Alex winced. He ran to his classmate and began to drag her out of harm's way, while Ron and Harry continued to fight.   
  
"Impedimenta!" Harry cried out, slipping a bit upon the wet grass and ducking a counter attack made by the Death Eater. "Expelliarmus!"  
  
Ron quickly moistened his lips and muttered a spell beneath his breath. The Death Eater squealed and collapsed upon the grass, squirming.   
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry exclaimed, pointing his wand directly at her face. She ceased her screaming and fell flat upon her back. Turning to Ron, Harry gave his friend a tired yet wide grin. "That was excellent…what did you use on her?"   
  
"Oh. A Jelly Legs Jinx." Ron smiled. "I remember Hermione used it our first year."  
  
Harry glanced quickly around them to see who still remained standing. Alex gave a feeble wave a few feet away with Melody, who was still unable to speak. Tess, Roger and Eric all lay silent upon the grass.  
  
- -  
  
"I don't suppose…that we're finished here?" Ron asked, looking to Harry. Everyone raised their eyes expectantly at Harry, as if he were the one who held all the answers. Yet a cold, chilly voice responded to all their questions.  
  
"Oh dear…you've gone and broken all my toys…" Jonathan's voice filled the clearing, though he was nowhere in sight. "Some fun you guys are…"   
  
"Where are you?" Harry raised his voice. "What do you want from us?"   
  
"Oh nothing, Harry, nothing really…" Jonathan replied in a voice as smooth as silk. "I really just wanted to have a bit of entertainment, that's all."  
  
"Jonathan, don't!" Alex called out. "Just what exactly happened to you anyway? What's with the creepy voice and the red eyes…and how did you get so…powered up?"   
  
His classmate laughed cruelly in reply. "You seriously haven't figured it out yet? Oh gosh, Alex, sometimes you really make me LAUGH!" A chilling breeze cut across the field that moment, and Alex toppled to the ground. Only Ron and Harry remained in the arena, and they glanced at each other nervously.  
  
"Now!" Jonathan exclaimed. "Now…I want to play a game."  
  
"We're not here to play games!" Harry retorted. "Now tell me what you want!"   
  
"Quiet, Potter!" Jonathan's voice boomed. "I make the rules here!"   
  
Suddenly, he appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the field. Harry tried to raise his wand but found himself frozen to the spot and unable to move. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Ron had been placed under the same spell as well.  
  
"Now before I explain how to play the game, I'd like to introduce you to a very special associate of mine. No, you can call her a new plaything that I picked up…very close to my heart." He gave a quick wave of his arm, and Paige appeared, her eyes glazed over and her arms tight against her sides. "Oh yes…little Paige…"  
  
"What are you going to do to her?" Harry cried out from where he stood.   
  
"I thought…I told you…to SHUT-UP!" Jonathan yelled. After making sure his words had sunk in, the Chimeral student cleared his throat. "Oh, and did I tell you? I'm also expecting a special guest!" He checked his watch in mild interest. "Mhm. Should be showing up in a matter of seconds…Oh yes! Here he is!"   
  
Harry and Ron both darted their eyes in the direction Jonathan had turned to, and the two friends goggled at who emerged from the woods.  
  
"Oh, Draco! How good of you to join us!" Jonathan laughed, and raised his wand, flicking it to the left. The sixth-year Slytherin was immediately pulled, as if by a magnetic force, to the Chimeral student's side.   
  
Draco glanced uneasily from the bodies upon the grass to Harry and Ron. "Um, Jonathan…what exactly is this all about? What are you doing?"  
  
"Oh right! I forgot to explain everything to you!" Jonathan slapped his forehead in feigned annoyance. "All right, look. You and I…we like to have fun, right?"  
  
"Um…right." Draco replied, trying to appear cool and confident. "Right."   
  
"Thought so." Jonathan smirked. "All right. That's why we're going to play a little game with Potter and Weasley."   
  
"Oh! Potter and Weasley." Draco nodded, relaxing a bit. "Sounds interesting…"  
  
"Right…I knew you'd say that!" Jonathan said approvingly. "Now, it goes like this." He placed an arm about Draco's shoulders, pointing his wand towards Harry and Ron. "You and I…we don't like those two, do we?"   
  
"No." Draco gave a slight laugh. "Not at all."   
  
"All right. So you've seen that I've taken care of most of their little friends…" Jonathan gestured towards the bodies that lay upon the floor.   
  
"…Right." Draco moistened his lips slowly. "…Um…before we go on any further…Jon, what exactly happened to your eyes?"  
  
Jonathan seemed to be surprised at Draco's question. "Oh! That's right…I didn't tell you about that! I knew I'd forgotten something…" He unhooked his arm from around the Slytherin's shoulder and cleared his throat. "All right. Since you and I are such good friends and all…" He pointed his wand up into the sky, and a spark of light shot past the remaining Snidgets to embed itself into a fluffy rain cloud. There was a moment of silence, and Draco was about to question his classmate's actions when the bone-chilling image of a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth flashed across the sky. Draco took a few steps backwards, his mouth open. Harry desperately tried to twist his head backwards to take a look at what had appeared above, yet found he still could not move, and gritted his teeth in frustration.  
  
"Y-you're a Death Eater?" Draco asked shakily, staring at his friend. "…You?"  
  
Jonathan grinned, and shook his head. "Nope. Even better." He looked up proudly at the Dark Mark in the night sky. "I'm Lord Voldemort." 


	10. And then there was One

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch9  
  
"What in the bloody hell…" Draco began to turn away. "Jon…Jon, you're kidding, right?"  
  
"What? No!" Jonathan replied indignantly.  
  
"But…isn't you-know-who back?" Draco asked. "Why didn't he show up himself then?"  
  
"Draco, its so obvious!" Jonathan threw up his hands in annoyance. "A student is the best disguise to use when you're trying to draw Harry Potter…and me being suitable to the Dark Lord's character, he chose me to see for him, speak for him…be him."  
  
"So…you weren't placed under the Imperius Curse like I was, then?" Draco asked. "That was…"  
  
"Pure genius, I know." Jonathan cut in rather pompously. He looked maliciously at Harry. "I had you fooled, didn't I?"  
  
Harry flushed angrily. "If you're really Voldemort, why didn't you attack me in the Owlery instead of getting Remora to do it for you?"  
  
"Oh. Well, that was really a test of the Professor's magic, stuff like that…" Jonathan fingered his wand casually. "You might even call it a mistake on my part. The Dark Lord was rather mad at me for not bringing the Snidget to him personally, but that's no matter…" He gave his wand a little wave and immediately, all the Snidgets returned obediently to the cage. After the door had clanged shut, he smiled malevolently. "Once he sees all these birds and we've picked out the ones who can sing the song of immortality, there will be no trouble getting the last bird from Hogwarts."  
  
Turning back to Draco, Jonathan gave his friend a grin. "Anyway, I should apologize for placing the Imperius Curse on you during the game…I needed a distraction, and I wasn't sure that you'd go along with everything, so…"  
  
"Oh. Right." Draco forced a smirk upon his face, swallowing hard. "W-when…when did all this you-know-who business start with you then?"  
  
"Oh. That was when the exchange student program first came out at Chimeral." Jonathan twirled his wand through his fingers lazily. "I wasn't interested at all…until I was approached by the Dark Lord himself…" Jonathan threw a glance over at Harry. "And the rest you know."  
  
"…Great." Draco cleared his throat. "Terrific."  
  
"I gotta tell ya, Draco…all this power…it's…overwhelming." Jonathan sighed. "I feel like I can do anything. I can make Weasley and Potter here fight to the Death if I wanted to…but I've got a much better plan in mind." He raised his wand, his eyes flickering with excitement. "Ready to play, Potter?"  
  
"We don't want to be a part of your sick games!" Harry retorted, cringing from the sudden shock of pain that Jonathan had inflicted in his chest.  
  
"Obviously, you don't know how to keep your mouth shut." Jonathan sneered. He snapped his fingers and Ron and Harry were brought close enough to each other so that they were side by side. "Now. I understand you Gryffindors are true of heart and brave as well." Jonathan's smirk grew into a widening smile. "So, this part will be the greatest test of those traits."  
  
With that, he flicked his wand once, and all of a sudden, Ron began to tremble with fear. Harry looked about them, but was unable to see anything except for what was already there.  
  
"Ron…Ron! What's wrong?" He cried, trying to reach out to his friend. When Ron continued to pale and shake, Harry's eyes widened, seeing the red-haired boy raise his wand in a trembling hand.   
  
"Ron! Snap out of it!" Harry desperately tried to break from his invisible bonds. Ron continued to stare at Harry with extreme fear written all over his face. His lips began to move slowly, and Harry shook his head frantically. "No! Ron, It's me!"   
  
Miraculously, Harry found he was suddenly able to move, and leapt out of the powerful Stunning Spell's way. As he ducked from another of Ron's attacks, Harry glared up at Jonathan. "What did you do to him?"   
  
The Chimeral student only laughed in reply. "Its all part of the game, Potter…its up to you to figure out how to play."  
  
"H-Harry…" Paige murmured softly from where she stood, trembling slightly, and Draco snapped his head quickly in her direction.  
  
"J…Jonathan…" Paige's eyes began to flicker with life. "Don't…"  
  
"Why Paige…" Jonathan sneered at the girl. "Do you really care that much about Potter here?" He placed his hands upon her shoulders. "You must be feeling such hatred, seeing me torture him so."  
  
"What's happening to her?" Draco asked.   
  
"The Imperius Curse I placed on her is wearing off." Jonathan replied, and began stroking Paige's hair, much to Draco's discomfort. Looking up at Harry's frantic dodging of Ron's attacks, he laughed. "Brilliant, isn't it? I've pitted the two friends against each other. Weasely doesn't know who he's attacking, and Potter's too sensitive to attack back!"  
  
"Brilliant…" Draco muttered, hands in his pockets. "By the way…what're you doing to do with her?"  
  
"Paige?" Jonathan asked. "Well…I'm going to have her killed with the rest of her little friends-"  
  
"NO!" Draco heard the word emerge from his mouth before he could stop it. Eyes wide, he pursed his lips before speaking again. "…You can't."  
  
"Oh? And why not?" Jonathan asked. "I thought you wanted to teach her a lesson…" He looked at his hand, which was still wet from plucking the human heart from Professor Remora's chest. When Draco did not reply, the Chimeral student began fingering his wand casually. "Anyway…I was going to have Potter fight with her for a little while for fun, but seeing that the Imperius Curse is wearing off, I think it'd provide some good entertainment if she were to see Harry die before her eyes…"  
  
"Er…right." Draco mumbled, fumbling with his robes as he tried to figure out what to say. "Um…Jon…do you think…that maybe we could forget about the whole punishing Paige thing? I mean…you've already got her brother, and-"  
  
"Draco, don't go all Harry Potter on me." Jonathan replied, laughing. "Besides…it'll be fun…just sit back and watch!"  
  
"No." Draco set his jaw, and Jonathan's laughter began to die. "Jon, I'm not kidding."  
  
"Wha…what?" Jonathan's smile wavered. "You…you're joking. Draco, are you sick or something? C'mon, the girl isn't worth anything, I would know!"  
  
"Well she's something to me!" Draco reached out and grasped the Chimeral student's arm. "Let her go."  
  
"…You're really serious." He wrenched away from Draco's grasp.  
  
"Right." Draco moistened his lips. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd release her."  
  
Jonathan appeared to be in a state of disbelief and stood there, shaking his head. "…No. I'm not letting her go."  
  
"Why?" Draco demanded, stepping forward. "You're going to get to finish most of them off anyway; you've even got Potter within your grasp! Take all of them to you-know-who for all I care, but let Paige go!"Jonathan's expression of confusion slowly began to change into a face of understanding. A glimmer of malice shone in the boy's eyes, and a wide smirk began to form across his mouth.   
  
"Sorry to break it to you." He said softly. "But she dies with the rest of them."  
  
"What's wrong with letting just one go?" Draco argued.  
  
"I think the real question is, Draco…is why you only want me to release Paige." Jonathan encircled an arm about the girl's waist, and she shook slightly. "Potter would have wanted me to release every one of them."  
  
"But I'm not Potter, am I?" Draco retorted, reaching for his wand.   
  
"No, I don't suppose you are." Jonathan replied curling a lock of Paige's black hair between his fingers. "You know, when I first met you, I was surprised the Dark Lord didn't choose you instead of me. I mean, our personalities…our traits…we're so much alike, Draco." He smiled nastily. "But just now…I discovered why Lord Voldemort chose me. I have no weaknesses, whereas you do."   
  
"What are you talking about?" Draco demanded. "What weakness?"  
  
"Oh. Nothing much…" Jonathan's grin widened. "…except for a little girl named Paige!" He pulled the girl closer to him, and she made a loud choking sound, her eyes moving about wildly. Draco jumped and pulled out his wand, sweat beads forming upon his forehead. Jonathan laughed loudly. "Oh jeez…your reaction was priceless…your face…" Jonathan shook his head, smiling. "The curse is wearing off, Draco, that's all. It's not like I hurt her or anything…"  
  
"I'm not sure if I can trust your word, Jonathan." Draco growled.  
  
"Oh, Draco…you want to fight, is it?" Jonathan smirked, his own wand at the ready. "You do realize that I have the power of the world's most feared Dark Wizard inside of me?" He gave Paige a quick look before turning back to Draco. "You're fighting with the Dark Lord just to rescue a worthless girl? I'd never do that…"  
  
"Shut-up!" Draco retorted, standing his ground. "I'm not you, so stop making stupid comparisons and let Paige go!"   
  
"You're very brave for a Slytherin, Draco." Jonathan nodded in approval. "Your father would be proud…except for the fact that he's lying in a heap in the mud over there-"  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Draco cried angrily, letting the spell fly from his wand. Jonathan gave a swift turn and disappeared with Paige in his arms. Cursing, Draco looked about wildly, hoping to spot the Chimeral student.  
  
"Can't see me, can you, Draco?" Jonathan's voice rang in the Slytherin's ears. "Makes you feel weak and vulnerable, doesn't it?"   
  
"Quit hiding, you prat!" Draco snapped, grasping his wand tightly.   
  
"Right here, Draco." Jonathan reappeared with Paige in his grasp. "But tell me…do you really want to attack me when your little precious might get hurt by your own spell?" He gave a cruel smile. In his arms, the effects of the Imperius Curse seemed to have worn off, and Paige gave helpless struggles against her classmate's arms.   
  
"I'm going to do everything in my power to get her back." Draco replied, raising his wand slowly.   
  
"Ooh, I'm scared!" Jonathan squealed in feigned fright. "Please don't hurt me Mr. Malfoy…"  
  
"Jonathan, don't!" Paige struggled. "Why are you doing this?"   
  
"Quiet!" He slapped her across the face, leaving smears of blood over her cheek. Shooting a quick look at Draco, he grinned. "You know…I never thought you cared about anyone but yourself…you didn't even pay attention to that Pansy girl even though she'd throw herself all over you just to get some reaction from you…" Laughing, he leaned close to Paige and ran his tongue down the side of her face to taste the blood he'd left behind, causing her to wince and sob.   
  
Draco took his chance. "Impedimenta!" Jonathan noticed the attack at the last moment and ducked, the spell narrowly missing his shoulder.   
  
"Oh, close one, Draco!" Jonathan sneered, laughing. "You know, this is rather fun…I'd do this all day…but I have things to do and places to go to." He raised his wand and gave a sympathetic smile. "So sorry things didn't work out with us, Draco...Avada Kedavra!""NO!" Paige screamed as the green light shot towards its target.   
  
Miraculously, Draco somehow managed to dive out of the powerful spell's range and landed hard against the grass, panting.  
  
"My, my…I haven't missed before…" Jonathan sighed loudly. "Well…might as well try again-OW!"  
  
Paige had kicked the boy hard in the shins, and as he raised his arm to strike her, she cried out, "Draco! Run! Go!"  
  
"…No…" Draco stood, cringing a bit as he placed pressure upon his right leg. Looking down, he saw that the leg of his robes was soaked through with blood, and he winced, wondering when he'd been attacked there. Looking up, he raised his wand yet again: "Stupefy!"   
  
Jonathan, who had been struggling to hold down Paige, was struck between the shoulder blades by the Stunning Spell, and fell upon the grass. Cursing, he got to his feet and quickly counter-attacked, knocking Draco off his feet.  
  
Now free of her restraints, Paige pulled out her own wand, and cried out, "Tarantallegra!"  
  
Jonathan's legs began to prance and move about in a mad dance, and he fell upon his back, feet kicking the air. In anger, he forced himself up upon his back and retaliated with a powerful disarming spell. Paige was hit hard against her head, and she fell in the wet grass, her vision blurring.   
  
"Finite." Jonathan mumbled, and his legs stopped their wild dance immediately. Brushing himself off, the boy stood and looked about for his next victim. The rain above had not yet relented, and his robes were heavy and wet against his skin. "Draco! Where are you?" He called out in a singsong tone of voice. "I'm not done with you yet…"  
  
There was a fine mist of fog spread across the field, and Jonathan lit the point of his wand to see better. "No point in hiding…I won't do anything to you…except maybe kill you."  
  
"Who's the vulnerable one now, Jon?" Draco's voice emerged from the fog suddenly, and Jonathan turned on his heel, unable to pinpoint Draco's location. "You're right…it is fun being able to attack someone when they're susceptible and defenseless…"  
  
"Are you trying to scare me, Draco?" Jonathan sneered, waving his wand about.  
  
"So how shall I attack you, Jon? Maybe you could throw some ideas at me." Draco said casually. "I'm not as good at the Unforgivable Curses like you are…but since I've got the opportunity to use it, I might as well give it a shot…"  
  
"You wouldn't…" Jonathan laughed. "And even if you did, it'd be the weakest-AGH!"  
  
The Chimeral student was knocked off his feet by a painful jolt in his chest, and he cringed, clutching himself. "What…what did you do…"  
  
When there was no reply, he cursed softly and continued walking through the mist. A disarming spell hit him in the shoulder, and reaching through the mist, he closed his fingers about someone's wrist.  
  
"Paige!" He growled, spitting in her face. Grabbing a hold of her, he dragged her after him through the fog.  
  
"Draco! I've got Paige with me and I'm going to kill her if you don't show your face right now!" Jonathan panted, squeezing Paige's wrist hard and causing her to cry out. "You hear that? I mean business, so come out!"   
  
He suddenly felt his legs collapse out from under him, causing his to release his hold upon his victim. As the girl tumbled to the ground, Jonathan found that his legs had become weak and wobbly. Muttering angrily beneath his breath, the boy struggled to think of the counter curse, unoticing Draco's emergence from the mist behind him. Only after a fist had made contact with his head did Jonathan whirl about, panting.  
  
"You don't want to provoke me!" He roared. Pointing at his limp limbs, he muttered the counter curse and felt strength returning to his legs. Noticing Paige reaching for her wand, which had fallen away from her, Jonathan immediately swept it from the grass, placed it into his hands and snapped it in two.  
  
"You know, Paige...you have an amazing knack of always getting in the way of things...but that'll be over after I'm done with you." Jonathan sneered at his defenseless classmate. "It was so sad that we broke up, wasn't it? I gotta admit...we looked good when we were together."  
  
"Shut-up..." Paige replied, a trickle of blood flowing down her cheek.  
  
"This will be long and painful, Paige. Brace yourself." Jonathan laughed loudly. "CRUCIO!"   
  
Paige's eyes squeezed shut as she awaited the pain which would emerge from the end of her attacker's wand. Yet when she felt hands clamp upon her shoulders and shove her out of the way, she opened her eyes to the horrible sight of Draco, screaming in anguish as the Crusiatus Spell inflicted its wrath upon him. Jonathan's laughter reverberated throughout the clearing as he continued to point his wand at his victim, inflicting more and more pain. Paige couldn't stand to watch the Slytherin be tortured, and tears began to form in her eyes as she remained unable to help.  
  
"Stupefy!" A voice cried out from the darkness. The spell made contact with Jonathan's arm, and the boy cried out in surprise, dropping his wand. Draco toppled over Paige, knocking her into the grass, and she shook his lifeless body in desperation to reawaken him. Jonathan retrieved his wand swiftly and turned, a challenging expression upon his face. When yet another spell emerged from the fog, Jonathan quickly refracted it, and it hit Paige in the side, causing her to gasp out and fall back upon the grass in silence.  
  
"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Jonathan laughed menacingly. He waved his wand slightly to clear away some of the mist around him, and Harry emerged slowly, wand pointed.   
  
- -  
  
The Present  
  
So everything from the past six months - the arrival of the Chimeral students, Hermione's warning leters, the distribution of the Snidgets, the game against Ravenclaw, and more - everything had added up to what was happening right now. Now that Harry had thought about all that had happened since the exchange student program in those brief seconds, he realized how so very brave and loyal his new friends were - and just how dangerous just one boy his own age could be.  
  
Jonathan stood across from him, a confident sneer upon his face.   
  
"You going to attack me yet, Potter?" He asked. "Haven't got all day, y'know..."  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry cried, pointing his wand at his opponent. Jonathan disappeared and reappeared behind the Hogwarts student, and knocked Harry over with a Stunning Spell. Harry retaliated with a Disarming Spell, which Jonathan easily evaded. When the Chimeral student attacked again, Harry used a Reflecting Charm, which protected him from the worst of Jonathan's spell.  
  
Just at the moment when Harry felt he would topple over with exhaustion, a burst of light appeared before him, and a familiar voice said calmly, "Rest, Harry."   
  
The Boy-Who-Lived felt a gentle hand lay him back upon the grass, and he closed his eyes, everything becoming dark and silent. 


	11. Draco's Confession

Storyline (c) 2003 inTOtheSKY, all Chimeral characters are my own and should not be copied without permission. All other characters belong to JK Rowling ;D Feel free to e-mail me at spirit@eluding.org  
  
Ch10  
  
"Harry! Harry!"   
  
"Wh...what?" Harry opened his eyes blearly and sat up, putting his glasses on. "Hermione?"  
  
"Yes! Oh, Harry...I was so worried!" The girl wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug. "I just heard what happened...and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help!"   
  
"You...you came back?" Harry asked, still unable to believe his friend was standing before him now.   
  
"Of course I did!" Hermione exclaimed. "The Hogwarts students were sent back a week early because of all the chaos that happened here...oh Harry, I'm so releived to see you're all right!"   
  
"Oh. Well, its great to see you too..." Harry smiled. "How was Chimeral?"  
  
"Oh, great...I was a bit lonesome sometimes though...I missed my two best friends so much." Hermione smiled.   
  
"We thought of you too." Harry grinned. "By the way, how is Ron?"  
  
"I heard he was all right, but I had better go see for myself..." Hermione glanced quickly in Ron's direction. "I'll see you in a bit, Harry." She gave her friend a quick parting smile, then left.   
  
Harry looked about the room. There were students everywhere around him in beds, which led Harry to conclude that he was in the medical ward. Roger, Henry and Eric walked up then, their wrists and areas of their faces bandaged. Roger himself was on crutches, and he winced with every hop he made. Upon seeing Harry however, the boy grinned.   
  
"Hey Harry." Roger said. "Well...that was quite a fight, wasn't it?"   
  
"Don't remind me." Harry shook his head, smiling. "How're you all doing? You weren't hurt bad, were you?"  
  
"Oh, not really." Eric replied. "Just some sprains, bruises, cuts...most of us Chimeral students are recovering quickly. Wei and Lillian weren't involved, so they're fine."  
  
"Great." Harry nodded in approval. "But...what about Jonathan, then?"   
  
"Oh." Roger gave a slight shudder. "Apparentely your headmaster showed up in the nick of time and saved all of us. He stopped Jon from using the Avada Kedavra curse on you and somehow managed to knock him out with some sort of hex..."  
  
"I heard Jonathan was sent off to some sort of rehabilitation center for troubled young wizards..." Henry shook his head. "They ought to lock him up in Azkaban, if you ask me."  
  
"Well, he's been expelled from Chimeral, that I know." Melody came striding up with Alex in tow.  
  
"And the Snidgets were taken to some unknown location." Alex added, stretching.   
  
"Terrific." Harry replied, relief flooding into his system as he heard his friend's words.   
  
Tess walked over with Paige, smiles upon their faces despite the number of bandages that coated their arms and legs.   
  
"Hey, Harry." Tess sat upon her friend's bedside. "How're things holding up?"  
  
"I'm feeling much better." Harry replied. "How about you two?"   
  
"All right, I suppose." Paige smiled a little, rubbing her wrist. "I should thank you Harry, for fighting off Jonathan like that."  
  
Harry shook his head. "No. I ought to thank all of you, for coming and helping, even though you didn't have to.  
  
"Oh, well...it sure made our experience here interesting." Roger laughed.   
  
"So are you all staying for another week, then?" Harry asked eagerly.   
  
The Chimeral students looked to each other doubtfully.   
  
"Well...we don't think so, Harry." Melody replied ruefully. "The Hogwarts exchange students are already back...that probably means we're bound for home soon."  
  
"This'll probably be one of the last times we'll be seeing one another." Eric shook his head.  
  
"We'll stay in touch, though." Tess said.   
  
"And we won't forget all the fun we had here, either." Henry brought up.  
  
"Guess we'll be seeing you around, Harry." Alex said.  
  
"We'll miss you." Tess squeezed Harry's shoulder, then followed the others to visit Ron at the bed across the room. Harry wasn't left alone for long, however, for Neville had approached with a wrapped present in his arms.   
  
- -  
  
Some many beds down, Draco lay quietly between his sheets, stirring slightly when someone placed a hand upon his shoulder. Opening his eyes, the silver eyed boy gave a wide grin to his usual group of friends - Millicent, Crabbe and Goyle. Sitting up, he propped himself comfortably against his pillow and turned to his friends.  
  
"Wow, Draco." Millicent grinned a toothy grin at her classmate. "So you fought with you-know-who?"   
  
"Well...not really." Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just some exchange student that you-know-who put a hex on."  
  
"That's still just...AMAZING!" Millicent exclaimed, grabbing her classmate and shaking him by the shoulders. "You must tell us what it felt like!"   
  
"How about later?" Draco grimaced, prying the girl's hands off. "So...you all got out of the forest all right, then?"  
  
"Yeah...we just kind of stood around and all of a sudden Dumbledore appeared and helped us back." Millicent explained, yawning slightly.   
  
"We brought some presents for you." Crabbe gurgled, slapping a heavy bundle upon Draco's lap, causing him to wince. "Hope you like it."   
  
"Oh. Thanks." Draco replied, a little surprised his friends had gotten him something.  
  
"Pansy picked it out for you." Millicent announced. "She wanted it to be perfect...obviously she's infatuated with you."  
  
"Pansy...infatuated." Goyle gave a freakish giggle. "Funny."  
  
"Where is she?" Draco asked, holding the present carefully.   
  
"Oh...she wanted to make herself look nice for you, so she's somewhere making herself beautiful." Millicent rolled her eyes. "Anyway, she should be running in here any moment now..."   
  
"Draco's asking for Pansy?" Goyle looked surprised.  
  
"You've never asked about her before." Crabbe laughed.   
  
"Well, maybe he finally decided to care." Millicent nodded in approval.   
  
Draco was surprised to hear his friends talk about him in such a way. Had he really changed? What had he changed from?  
  
"I need to go to the restroom!" Goyle bawled all of a sudden, and Milllicent gave him a look of disgust.   
  
"Can't it wait, Goyle? Pansy's about to show up any second, and-"  
  
"I NEED TO GO!" Goyle roared, stomping his feet. Crabbe looked dumbly at his friend, then grabbed him by the arm and the two of them waddled away. Millicent gave a loud sigh.   
  
At that moment, the Paige looked up from Ron's beside to see Draco in the middle of conversing with his classmates. Excusing herself from her friend's side, she walked over warily, unsure of whether to approach the Slytherin or not. Spotting her, Draco's eyes flickered slightly, and Millicent threw the Chimeral student a suspicious look before backing away.   
  
Paige moistened her lips, unsure of how to express what she wanted to say. Nearing the Hogwarts student, pulling at her robes anxiously.  
  
"Draco, um..." She cleared her throat. "Well..this is really weird...I really don't know how to say this...but I guess...I guess I should say...thank you. Thanks for...doing what you did...back in the forest." She couldn't meet his eyes, and she stood there awkwardly. "Um, well...I don't know what you were doing in the forest, you really shouldn't have been there...I mean, sorry, that's not what I meant, er, um..."  
  
"It's all right." Draco cut in, his gray eyes watching her. "I know what you mean."  
  
"No, Draco, I don't think you do." Paige shook her head in frustration. "I...I don't know how to talk to you like we're friends...I'm not used to the fact that all of a sudden you decided to be courageous and protective, which is the total opposite of what you were before...Draco, if you don't remember, you wanted to hurt me before all this happened." She paused, letting her words sink in.   
  
"I don't know why you bothered to save me when Jonathan had me in his grasp, Draco. I want to thank you for it...but...I don't know...why I should. Every time you've ever done something...you did it because there was something in it for you. But this time, there wasn't, was there? That's what confuses me." She exhaled, then laughed at her own words. "What am I saying? You aren't listening to me...you wouldn't care..." She turned to leave, yet froze, feeling Draco's hand grasp upon her arm. The same feeling of fear shot through the girl, and she pulled away.  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes. "You're still scared of me, aren't you?" When Paige did not reply, an ache began to build beneath his throat, and Draco swallowed to ease it. "I don't understand why you need to be scared of me...didn't what I do convince you that I'm not going to hurt you?"  
  
"That doesn't mean you won't go on hurting other people." Paige replied, turning. "I'm sorry if I sound like some sort of philanthropist, but I've always hated people like you, always bullying and hurting..."  
  
Hearing her words made the ache throb more, and Draco looked away, breathing shallowly. "Well if that's the way it is, I don't know why I bothered to save you."  
  
Paige took in a deep breath. "Well...I suppose that what you did for me when I was in danger...that was-"  
  
"Nothing." Draco muttered angrily. "It meant nothing to you, did it?"   
  
"Well, no, not at all!" Paige replied quickly. "I know I sounded ungrateful...but I am really thankful, Draco, I am." She gave him a sad half smile, and the ache grew more. "Everything you did to protect me I'm thankful for."   
  
"Then why won't you say..." Draco's voice wavered. "Why won't you just..."  
  
"Draco." Paige ran her fingers through her long hair. "When you took the Cruciatus Curse for me, I cried. I cried for you." She lowered her eyes. "When I saw that, I'll admit that...I was surprised. In my mind you were always selfish, uncaring, insensitive..."  
  
Draco remained silent, though he listened to the Chimeral student speak. She had smiled at him, even if it wasn't a real, true-to-your-heart smile, and that gave him a tiny sense of contentment.   
  
"But anyway." Paige brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. "At least I know that...a part of you has changed for the better."  
  
When Draco did not speak, she raised her head to see what was wrong. His eyes drew her to him, and she stood, frozen, never seeing his eyes up so close. How esoterically silver and gray they were, and how they cut through her gaze like the sharp edge of a blade, sending shivers down her back. She swallowed hard and backed away slightly.  
  
Draco observed Paige's own gaze with interest as he locked her stare with his own. She had warm, chocolate brown eyes that were filled with a variety of different emotions, each tempting for its viewer to decipher and decode. He reached over slightly and brushed a finger over her hand, and she jumped, his touch unfamiliar and strange. Reddening, Paige broke away from his eyes and darted down the hallway and out of the room.  
  
- -  
  
"This is it, then Harry...Ron." Roger nodded to the two Hogwarts students. "Hope that you'll stay in touch with us."   
  
"You can count on it." Ron grinned, giving the Chimeral student a hearty handshake while Harry exchanged one with Alex. "I'll owl you as soon as I get the chance!"   
  
"It's a pity we didn't get to watch the two of you fly through a whole Quidditch match." Eric commented, shaking Ron's hand.  
  
"If you ever get the chance, come down to Chimeral for a visit!" Henry exclaimed.  
  
"You can watch one of our own Quidditch matches then." Alex grinned.  
  
"We'll miss you." Melody said, giving both friends a hug. "Take care, all right?"   
  
"Thanks for showing us a good time." Tess added.   
  
Wei approached Harry then, with a rueful expression upon her face. "Sorry for being such a pain sometimes...I should apologize for that."  
  
"It's all right." Harry smiled, giving the girl a pat on the back.  
  
"Thanks for everything, the both of you." Paige gave both boys an embrace. "I won't ever forget it."  
  
"Yeah..." Lillian gave a big sigh. "I'm SO sorry that I didn't get to know either of you two better! And I didn't even get to pick up a new boyfriend either! That makes me so mad!"  
  
"Um...right." Ron gave the girl a sideways look. "We'll miss you too."   
  
Hermione approached the little group then, and was given friendly introductions to all the exchange students. After exchanging greetings and good-byes, the call was made for the departure of all Chimeral students. As Harry and the others began to wave good-bye, they were surprised to see Draco rush out all of a sudden and call out Paige's name. She looked to him quickly, then beckoned for the others to continue on without her. Though they were too far away to be heard, Harry watched them silently, wondering what they were saying.  
  
- -  
  
Paige blinked up at the Slytherin who had called her name. He looked at her with a slight flicker in his eye, as if trying to say something he wasn't sure how to express. Remembering her own reaction the last time they'd talked, Paige felt a bit flustered, yet found her voice.   
  
"Draco, I have to go." She said almost calmly. "Do you need something?"   
  
"I really don't know." Draco replied.  
  
Paige exhaled. "Look, Draco, the others are waiting for me and I need to go, now. Whatever it is you need...I'm sorry, but I can't answer it or do it right now." She turned to go.  
  
"Wait." Draco called out, grasping onto her hand. She paused, the feel of him suddenly not so cold and horrible. She moistened her lips and lowered her head.   
  
"Draco, they're waiting."   
  
"I don't want you to go." He insisted, continuing to hold onto her. "I haven't even really got to know you as much as...as much as I'd like."   
  
"The six months are over." Paige said. "If you wanted anything from me, you should have asked for it before."   
  
"I regret that!" Draco said loudly, and circled around to face the Chimeral student. "But there's nothing I can do about it, is there?"   
  
Paige could feel the blood pounding through her veins as she heard the emotion in his voice. Yet even before the truth of Draco's feelings dawned upon her, she'd pulled her hand from his grasp. She looked up to him, and he felt a pang of anguish rush through him as she shook her head no.   
  
"I can't, Draco, you know I can't." She closed her eyes and opened them slowly. "Don't make this dramatic...that's just stupid. Don't make it emotional, either...I can't stand that." She started to walk past him, but he blocked her.   
  
"Listen to me, Paige. I figured out what you did to me." Draco said, and Paige raised her head in surprise, hearing him say her name. Yet she continued to try to move past him, and he grabbed her by the shoulders.  
  
"You might not think you did something to me, but you did. Paige, you did!" He shook his head. "You made me feel-"  
  
"No." Paige stepped away from the Slytherin. "Don't say it." She shook slightly, and darted past him, causing him to chase after her. She walked faster. "Don't make a scene, Draco."  
  
"I don't care if I make a scene, and I don't care if everyone knows how I feel!" Draco yelled, pulling Paige back by the sleeve. "I care about you!"  
  
Though most of the people in the room had been oblivious to the little scene that had been happening, at the sound of Draco's voice reverberating through the hallways, everyone turned and stared. Paige, feeling everyone's eyes upon her, wrenched herself away.   
  
"You don't really feel that way. You're just saying that." She muttered, flushing with embarrassment. "I've gone through enough relationships to know that I can't trust anyone who says that to me...especially the type of person who acts like you! You might have done good in the forest, but that doesn't change who you are. You could be lying to me right now because you want to play some dirty trick on me!" She whipped out her wand. "Now leave me alone!"   
  
Draco stared at her for a moment, seeing the girl's wand arm quiver slightly and her expression wavering. "You don't want to use that on me." He said quietly. "...I know you don't."   
  
"Oh really? And how would you know?" Paige retorted.  
  
"I did a lot of thinking ever since I laid eyes on you, Paige." Draco watched the girl carefully. "You're insecure and sensitive, and you continue to lose confidence in yourself because of your failed relationships." He took a step forward, and Paige flinched slightly. "You need someone who will treat you with loyalty and just to see you as who you really are. You want it so badly that its killing you, probably...all you ever wanted was for someone to care." He reached for her wand, and she blinked, causing tears to fall from her dark eyes. "You've been treated badly, and you know what pain feels like...so you'd never inflict it upon another person."  
  
Paige stood there in silence, tears trickling down the sides of her face. Draco slipped her wand away from her fingers, and weakly, she let her arm drop to her side, weeping softly. When the Slytherin came forward again, she did not run, and he placed his arms around her, giving her the strength and care that she'd needed all along.  
  
Once Paige's sobbing had quelled down to a mere hiccup, she pressed herself away from Draco's grasp gently and dried her tears. She looked up at him then and smiled in a melancholy fashion, causing the Hogwarts student to feel confused.   
  
"What..why are you still..."  
  
"Pansy's waiting for you, Draco." She said, looking over his shoulder at the Slytherin girl. "She cares for you, more than anyone ever could." Backing away, she turned, brushing away a stray tear. "Bye."   
  
"Paige..." Draco reached out, hesitated, then remained where he stood. "I won't forget you."   
  
Paige smiled again, shaking her head. "Yes, you will."   
  
She walked down the hallway, never looking back, leaving Draco standing alone and confused. Harry was about to come forward to say something when the Slytherin looked up and met the Gryffindor's gaze.   
  
"Don't think this changes anything between us, Potter." Draco snapped. Turning, he walked off with his usual group of friends, not looking back.  
  
"Well...what was that all about?" Hermione asked, watching them leave.  
  
"I don't know." Ron shook his head.  
  
Harry smiled silently to himself, watching Draco walk away. Clearing his throat, he placed his arms around his friend's shoulders. "C'mon. We'd better get to the Great Hall for dinner..."  
  
Hermione gave her friends a look. "And you two better tell me everything about Jonathan and those Snidgets...I can't believe I wasn't there!"  
  
Ron sighed. "Anything for you, Hermione..." 


End file.
